Editorial | Legco president Andrew Leung deserves praise for a job well done
The outgoing head has performed admirable work in troubled times and overseen important changes in the legislative body
Few would disagree that the outgoing Legco president has done a fair job, considering the ups and downs experienced within the chamber and in the wider society in recent years. Citing family, age and personal reasons for retirement, the 74-year-old said he hoped his early announcement would give aspirants sufficient time to prepare.
The industrial functional constituency representative came to the top post in 2016 as the Occupy Central protests and the rise of localism pushed Hong Kong into more troubled times. The political landscape is very different now, with the national security law and the all-patriots electoral revamp gradually turning the city from chaos into stability and prosperity.
The soft-spoken veteran might not be as politically seasoned and charismatic as his predecessors Jasper Tsang Yok-sing and Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai. However, he has been instrumental in overseeing key transformations, such as the council’s new rules against filibusters and a disciplinary mechanism for lawmakers. The absence of opposition in recent years might have given Leung less trouble. Even so, his job remains no less challenging in that he has to ensure the operation of Legco will become more efficient while maintaining effective checks and balances under the Basic Law.
There is a perception that the Legco pendulum has swung from dysfunctional to little more than a rubber stamp, while the performance of some lawmakers also falls short of expectations. Leung’s successor must work even harder to enhance public confidence in Legco as well as maintain constructive working relations with the administration without compromising the constitutional duties prescribed in the city’s system of governance.