Politics
Written by: Liu Jinhua
2020-01-10 11:59
Last updated: 2020-01-10 11:59The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Law Chi-kwong, interviewed the media today after attending the Finance Committee meeting to discuss civil service pay increases, and stated that as of December 31 last year, a total of 41 civil servants had been arrested for involving illegal public activities, of which Thirty-one have been suspended and the remaining cases are being actively followed up by the relevant departments. Luo Zhiguang pointed out that in the past six months, large-scale illegal activities have occurred in the society, and the government has zero tolerance for civil servants' violations. He also said that the number of civil servants arrested for participating in illegal social activities is only a very small number of civil servants overall. He emphasized that the civil servant team as a whole adheres to the rule of law and is committed to their duties. He hopes that society will not discredit civil servants' due diligence due to very few cases.
Luo Zhiguang added that if civil servants commit criminal crimes, in addition to being punished by law, the government will also take disciplinary actions in accordance with established mechanisms, for example, even after being fired, reiterating that it will not condone indulgence.
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Law Chi-kwong, said that the established mechanism for civil service pay increases is to take into account the interests of the entire civil service and "never consider the performance of individual departments." (Photo by Liang Pengwei)
Luo Zhiguang also pointed out that civil servants are members of the government. When social order is affected, they need to support government policies and decisions in unity and help the society restore order and tranquility as soon as possible. Asked whether the suspension of unconvicted civil servants violated the presumption of innocence, he responded that the suspension was based on public interest grounds. It was necessary to consider whether it would be appropriate to continue to drive public office powers and functions if the civil servants returned to work after breaking the law, as well as the public. The perception that civil servants continue to exercise their powers after their arrest.
Regarding some Democrats who proposed to raise the police's salary increase project, and summoned the Commissioner of Police Deng Bingqiang to attend the Legislative Council Finance Committee meeting, Luo Zhiguang said that the government will submit a civil service pay increase to the Legislative Council Finance Committee every year according to the established mechanism. , Referring to this established mechanism as considering the interests of the entire civil service, "never considers the performance of individual departments", and believes that this mechanism, which has been used for many years, must be maintained. "There is no reason to deviate from this mechanism." The rationale invites representatives of individual departments to attend the Finance Committee, or split any department apart from this salary increase project, and hopes that members of the Legislative Council will respect this established mechanism.
Regarding the new civil servants' union who criticized the police for cutting down the New Year's Day parade, Luo Zhiguang said that the police ended the procession early on the grounds of public safety, criticizing some for ignoring the facts and condemning the police's decision arbitrarily, and the government has the responsibility to clarify the facts. He reiterated that all civil servants must maintain political neutrality in accordance with the Civil Service Code.
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Law Office of the Civil Service
