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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2020-07-28 14:45
Last update date: 2020-07-28 14:46Last year, the district council changed. The democrats won 80% of the seats and the establishment camp was defeated. At the beginning of the year, it was rumored that the government would "comfort" the candidates who failed to be elected to the organizational system with seats on the conference zone committees. The relevant appointment list was announced on Monday (27). Nearly a hundred candidates from the organizational system were appointed. District councils have gradually become a battleground of political struggles. They are far away from the task of solving people's livelihood practices. People have been worried that if the district committees also get into political disputes, it will be of no benefit to all sectors of society.
The area committees were established in 1972, directly under the district offices of the District Offices. The original work was mainly to promote the "Clean Hong Kong Campaign" and the "Fight Violent Crime Campaign". Its current functions include promoting public participation in district affairs, organizing community activities and providing government sponsorship programs. Opinions, support for the implementation of regional administrative work, etc. At present, there are 67 area committees in 16 districts (Tai Po and North districts do not have related committees due to rural organizations), with a total of over 1,000 members.
In the past, it was rumored that the government intended to appoint last year's district elections who were unsuccessful in the establishment of district elections as committee members so that they could continue their work in the district. Recently, the list of relevant appointments was announced. According to media statistics, at least 96 established members who were unsuccessful in the election last year were appointed. Among them, except for the Central and Western District, the other district committees have at least one former district councillor. Among them, there are 12 in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. People such as Wang Weixin, the former vice chairman of the Yuen Long District Council, and Liu Guirong, a former Yuen Long District Councillor of the Federation of Trade Unions, were appointed. In addition, many establishment members who participated in the conference last year have also been appointed, such as Liu Shengxue of the New Democratic Party and Wu Zesen, the son of Wu Jinjin, the former chairman of the Wan Chai District Council.
In contrast, in the past, democratic district councilors were appointed as members of the district committees, but they were not appointed this time. For example, there were 126 people in the last Tuen Mun District Committee, 28 of whom were then-time District Councillors, 8 of whom were democrats. Except for the Labour Party, Tan Chunxian, the remaining 7 were re-elected, but none of them were appointed to the new term. The district committee.
List of the new Tuen Mun Area Committee. (Screenshot of Home Affairs Department document)
Appointment discussions must return to basic steps
Even if the criteria for the appointment of the zone committees are questioned, all sectors should not treat the relevant appointments solely from a political perspective. The biggest principle for appointing public office is to employ people based on talents. Whether the political position is established or not is irrelevant. For example, since the beginning of the year, the pro-democracy party has criticized district committees for appointing those who are rejected by the establishment. They believe that the appointment of those eliminated by public opinion not only insults the public, but also assists the establishment parties to maintain the "legs" of the district so that they can make a comeback in the next term. However, such criticism is purely considered from a political perspective, but does not start from the principle of whether the appointment is based on meritocracy. After all, many unsuccessful people in the establishment have always had many years of experience in serving the region, not to mention that the democrats elected in the last district election are all experienced people with limited experience. There is always merit in appointing the unsuccessful in the establishment.
But the establishment camp views the appointment from a political perspective. For example, Huang Yongwei, who was appointed by the Pakatan Rakyat, stated that the democrats have already controlled the 17 district councils. If the government appoints the democrats to the district committees, the roles will be overlapped. He also believes that the appointment of the establishment can give the advisory structure "an extra voice." ". However, if personal ability is the main consideration for appointment, then it is not wrong to appoint a member of the democratic camp to the district committee. What's more, what he calls more voice refers to another political opinion different from that of the democratic camp. The nature of the appointment is no different from further politicizing the conference organization.
In any case, the government's appointment has indeed attracted suspicion. The government emphasizes that when appointing candidates, it will consider factors such as their experience, knowledge of regional affairs, enthusiasm for serving the community, and ability to organize community activities, and adopt the principle of "employing people on the basis of talents" to attract suitable people who are willing to serve the society. That being the case, in the face of various doubts from all walks of life, the government has just explained how the appointment meets its claimed principles, so that the regional consulting organizations can get rid of political disputes as soon as possible.
Committee non-political compensation public office must be used for merit
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