Opponents may regret forcing wounded Leung into a corner

In Hong Kong, it's no longer clear who is governing. The ongoing free-to-air TV licence fiasco is just one glaring case in point.

Some people keep asking why the government granted only two licences instead of three, denying one to Hong Kong Television Network. If this is a valid question, then why not grant four or, for that matter, 400 licences?

An inexperienced and underfinanced set-up with an ambitious plan of operating 30 channels clearly deserved to be thrown out. But there are people who want to usurp this discretionary power of the executive, and by so doing undermine the tradition of the Executive Council together with the entire political system. This is a sure-fire prescription for anarchy.

The problem is that more and more people seem to buy this nonsense, including representatives of the Leung Chun-ying administration, with some Executive Council members joining the dissident chorus. In any case, the damaging leaks started dripping from day one. How can anyone conduct serious business in Exco any more?

The Hong Kong government now abhors making decisions because every one will invariably hurt somebody's interests and spark controversy.

Whenever there is controversy, the government is put on the spot and whatever it says or does is bound to be wrong, so much so that it is afraid even to do the right thing, like deciding how many TV licences to grant and starting national education.