The chief executive-designate, Li Jiachao, is in the process of organizing a team. In the plan to reorganize the government structure, it is proposed to add three deputy directors. The whole plan involves 13 new politically appointed officials and 57 civil servants. The annual salary expenditure will increase by nearly 100 million yuan.
Tsang Yok-sing, chairman of the DAB and former chairman of the Legislative Council, said in an exclusive interview with "Hong Kong 01" that anyone with common sense in management should not optimistically estimate that adding some high-level positions can improve the efficiency of government governance. I hope the new government can really To achieve what Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, pointed out, to solve the deep-seated problems of people's livelihood that have accumulated over time, especially the expectations faced by the new government are higher than those of the previous governments.
He also pointed out that although the DAB has always had members joining the government in the past, due to the constraints of the system design, no matter how many members join the government, they cannot truly "share the ruling power".
On the contrary, some party members have reported that after DAB members joined the government, they kept a certain distance from their party members in order to avoid being suspected of being "partisan".
Tsang Yok-sing pointed out that the society has high expectations for the next government, and the challenges are even greater than those of the previous government.
(Photo by Luo Junhao)
Rising societal expectations: the challenge is bigger than previous governments
Jasper Tsang said with a smile, "Anyone with a little common sense in management knows that adding a few more people may not really help improve the level of governance." He believes that there are two most critical factors. One is the problem of the system itself, how to drive the government The operation is smooth; the second is the level of leaders, whether they can gather a group of powerful people to form a high-quality team with clear goals and appropriate strategies to do practical things.
Tsang Yok-sing mentioned: "The new government actually has to face a lot of challenges, even greater than the previous governments, because all parties have high expectations for the new government." He explained that since the formulation and improvement of the National Security Law After the electoral system, the central government has paved the way for the Hong Kong government and removed the obstacles of previous governance. The Legislative Council is willing to walk with the government and cooperate in governance.
Coupled with the addition of 13 politically appointed officials and 57 civil servants, many of these 70 people are in senior positions, and the salary expenditure has increased significantly, and the pressure on them is also heavier.
Jasper Tsang said that the government must have specific goals and give results, such as housing policy, and everyone will see if the government can achieve it.
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"Everyone's expectations have risen. Your (Lee Ka-chao) policy platform can simply say 'set up a task force to look at public housing construction', but the "Policy Address" can't just talk about the structure, you must have specific goals, such as whether the public housing can be Waiting time for housing has been shortened from the current 6.1 years to 5 years? Can you tell what "results" you want? When you do national security education, what changes have the young students' understanding of the country changed? It's not easy to do, but all Everyone will be watching."
To "Xing" for everyone to see: it is useless to only understand diligence
Tsang Yok-sing continued: "It's useless to tell others that you only sleep two hours a day, work 20 hours a day, how many meetings you hold and how many new committees you set up. Citizens need to know that you can do it. What, the requirements that Director Xia mentioned many times, especially emphasized that you have to solve various deep-seated contradictions, and you have to hand in your homework."
Tsang Yok-sing emphasized that the political environment was only a part of the accumulation of deep-seated contradictions in society in the past, and it was impossible to blame the opposition 100%, but the latter did relieve some of the government's criticism.
At present, the old obstacles no longer exist, and the government no longer has "no one to rely on", and must effectively deal with people's livelihood issues: "To be fair, Li Jiachao does not have a magic wand, and it is impossible to solve all problems at once, but there is no doubt that the current political conditions have It is beneficial to focus on dealing with deep-seated conflicts. The central government said that Hong Kong needs to be transformed from chaos to governance, and from governance to prosperity, and you have to 'prosper' for everyone to see. We will have to wait and see."
Some people from the DAB complained: Before the help of officials and party members, Zhong was sad
Since the former Secretary of the Home Affairs Bureau, Xu Yingwei, left office due to the scandal, the DAB has 6 politically appointed officials in the current government. It is expected that more DAB members may be invited to join the government in the future.
Tsang Yok-sing, chairman of the DAB Founding Party, declined to comment on any individual candidates, saying that the DAB has been conscientiously and diligently cultivating political talents in the past, and all those invited to join the government are determined to serve the society.
However, he reiterated that even though the political environment has changed, the chief executive still cannot have a political party background in the system. It is useless to have more members of the DAB joining the government, and they cannot truly "share the ruling power".
He explained, "The members of the DAB joining the government do not mean to realize the DAB's political platform. The Secretary must act in accordance with the government and the Chief Executive's governance philosophy. The DAB's role is still to 'win'." He added He revealed that in the past some members of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong complained to him in private that after some party members became officials, they "didn't even pay attention to us and wanted their help, which was really sad before they became officials."
Tsang Yok-sing said frankly: "What is difficult to do politically, many eyes are on him (officials). Just like when I was the (Legislative Council) chairman, some people would say that I would favor the DAB. Some brothers also have some opinions, thinking that I Will deliberately avoid it, of course I don't think so, but it is not surprising to have such an idea. If you feel that you are supporting a certain party, not only pan-democrats (supporters) in society, but also civil servants may be dissatisfied. If Like foreign countries, there can be a ruling party, and all the officials from the chief to the bottom are members of the same party, which is justifiable, but Hong Kong does not.”
Structural reorganization ︱The three divisions set up deputy Huai Daji, the Financial Secretary to take over the land and the construction of the Department of Justice, the big foreign propaganda and political circles | Li Jiachao is expected to go to Beijing this week to receive a letter of appointment to exchange opinions with the central team. Li Jiachao formed a team. The discussion has been discounted, and the old officials can stay temporarily if they are not launched.