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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2021-05-07 17:46
Last update date: 2021-05-07 17:46
The Legislative Council passed the non-binding motion "Seize the Opportunity and Improve Governance" proposed by the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong Member Zhang Guojun on Thursday (6th).
The congressmen bombarded officials for "counting enough votes" in the parliament, taking refuge, being afraid to express opinions, lacking indicators in governance, etc., and demanded that the government really improve the effectiveness of governance after the central government takes the initiative to reform the parliament and election system.
The establishment urged the government not to make excuses for impeding governance in the future. It is reasonable and reasonable. However, many members of the table are clearly party members with the incumbent officials, and they are even members of the governance team. Then they themselves are not losing sight of Hong Kong. Governance shirk responsibility?
As Zhang Guojun, other congressmen, and Chief Secretary for Administration Zhang Jianzong said, the pan-democrats paralyzed the parliament and the people's livelihood policy could not be implemented as scheduled.
The central government takes the initiative to reform the composition of the local parliament and the electoral system, and it is hoped that members will be able to discuss politics in a pragmatic manner and resolve deep-seated social conflicts.
Zhang Guojun said that strong executive leadership does not mean that it can ignore the legislature that reflects public opinion. He believes that the government has "sufficient votes" in the parliament, and it does not mean that social problems will be solved.
(Photo by Lu Yiming)
High officials are mediocre and negligent
However, how many social problems in Hong Kong are due to chaos in the constrained parliament, and how many are due to the failure of the administrative system?
Chen Keqin and Lu Songxiong, who proposed the bill, cited the slow process of building housing on the government, the difficulty of housing for the grassroots, the disparity between the rich and the poor, and the fact that the income of the citizens cannot only catch up with economic growth and capital appreciation. One of the reasons for the formation of these problems is the extremely large number of councils. The process of using public funds in appropriations was challenged.
Countless examples prove that even if the council passed legislation and funding, the projects and services have not been seen for many years, and the problem has not been resolved.
To put it bluntly, it is that officials are unwilling to undertake the important task of reform.
This is exactly what Zhang Guojun calls asylum, and it is also the lack of governance indicators mentioned by Lu Songxiong. Officials can write blank checks at will without affecting their promotion and remuneration. When problems are encountered in implementation, they can dodge left and right.
The most obvious example is that there are over a million people living below the poverty line in Hong Kong, but the government has never set poverty alleviation, poverty reduction, or poverty alleviation goals.
Another example is the rise in the unemployment rate due to the epidemic. The government only thought of sending money but refused to implement more precise unemployment assistance for the beneficiaries on the pretext of involving a large amount of public money and measures that are easy to release and difficult to collect.
Another example is the long-term housing strategy's ten-year housing supply volume is only a reference figure. Even if there is a cumulative shortage of 76,900 public units at the end of last year, the Transportation and Housing Bureau and the Development Bureau have not said that they will take responsibility, because the target is not binding. Not placing high hopes can shorten the waiting time for public housing.
No wonder citizens have long been disappointed in the performance of officials, believing that they are mediocre and incompetent.
Zhang Jianzong continued that since the current district council took office, some district councillors have repeatedly acted inconsistent with their functions, insulting government officials and obstructing the approval of the people's livelihood appropriation.
(Photo by Lu Yiming)
Members are also responsible
However, it is worth noting that many of the MPs in the conference hall are not purely representatives of public opinion. They or their party members are part of the governance team, and they are more or less responsible for governance errors.
Zhang Guojun, who made the proposal, Ye Liu Shuyi, Lin Jianfeng, and Liu Yeqiang who have spoken, are precisely members of the Executive Council, and the accountability team also includes members of the DAB and the Federation of Trade Unions.
However, during their speeches, they rarely talked about their sharing of governance powers, and only focused on criticizing officials, which made people feel that they were also "shitting their responsibilities."
It is true that when looking around the world, it is normal for members of political parties to enter the government and parliament at the same time. It is not uncommon for members of the party to be dissatisfied with officials’ decision-making and even turn to each other during voting. The key is whether the members of the parliament have tried their best to urge incumbent officials to be held accountable. The changer of the system and eradicate the bad governance practices mentioned in each person's speech?
Regardless of party mates or not, when the Secretary-General pushes policies and proposals that violate social well-being, does the establishment have any grounds to consolidate public opinion to drive the government to rein in the precipice?
The Secretary for Transportation and Housing, Chen Fan, said that there will still be upward pressure on the waiting time for public housing in the next few years.
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The truth from this motion is that it will not.
Zhang Guojun quoted colleagues in the parliament as saying, "Some officials have "enough votes" in related policies, so they have no intention to continue meeting with some commentators. This sentence criticizes the government for ignoring the opinions of members and citizens, but it also reflects the leadership of the establishment. The parliament of the People’s Republic of China is too easy to support the government and even saves the process of bargaining.
To take a step back, even if Zhang Guojun’s "sufficient votes" refers only to the members of the establishment that most support the government, rather than the overall establishment, then please tell Zhang Guojun clearly who they are and let the citizens remind them not to be the government. vassal.
In response to the motion, Zhang Jianzong pointed out that “the government will continue to actively interact with the Legislative Council in a rational and positive manner, improve governance effectiveness, and handle various tasks concerning people’s livelihood and economy in a pragmatic manner.” However, the government must not think that a positive interaction between members and the Words follow the plan.
The benign interaction refers to members who express their opinions according to the quality of the policy, and the government adjusts the policy after listening to their opinions, rather than presupposing that members will blindly support the government.
As for asking the government to get rid of the bad habit of "counting enough votes" and truly respect the opinions of the parliament, it is the shared responsibility of officials and parliamentarians.
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