What if Carrie Lam is allowed to quit?
- While it’s true that there is no one with enough substance and experience to be chief executive, having a harmless bureaucrat or a moderate in a caretaker role for the next three years may be a better option for all than having Lam stay on
Embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has resurfaced after being missing from public view for more than a week. Her first act was to meet union representatives of the beleaguered police force to assure them of full government support.
A stand-up person and lifelong bureaucrat, her first instinct has always been to protect civil servants. There is now a tacit understanding that there will no independent inquiry into police conduct during the suppression of violent protests against the government’s extradition bill – so long as she remains the city’s leader.
But that, of course, is the real question: how long will she stay in her post? Her absence from public view since her second apology more than a week ago and the cancellation of two regular meetings of the Executive Council, her de facto cabinet, have sparked wild speculations.
There are mainly two schools of thought. The first one is that Lam has become so toxic that Beijing has told her to avoid inflaming already angry public sentiments. Such a gag order seems unlikely, unless Beijing wants to get rid of her now.
The second possibility seems more plausible. Lam is demanding that she be allowed to resign against the wishes of Beijing, which now has to consider letting her go sooner rather than later. A woman of such pride and hubris cannot take lightly the ordeal of being forced to give up on the hated bill and then apologise to the public, not once but twice. In other words, she has been on a work-to-rule strike, against Beijing!
Admittedly, both interpretations are not mutually exclusive: she wants to avoid more controversy and she wants to quit. Taking her out of the picture will undermine the rationale of the opposition and activists to continue with wildcat protests against the government. Furthermore, there is even bad blood between Lam and the pro-establishment camp over her mishandling of the bill that they may need a new leader for a fresh start.
It has been observed that there is no one with enough substance and experience to take up the post. That’s true. But the government can probably muddle through with a harmless bureaucrat like Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung or a moderate such as Exco convenor Bernard Chan in a caretaker role in the next three years. That may be a better option for all sides than having Lam stay on.