My team won’t look to Beijing for help, Hong Kong’s next leader Carrie Lam pledges
Chief executive-elect puts herself at odds with Leung Chun-ying and says ministers in the next administration will be in charge of their own work and cannot rely on liaison office
Ministers in the incoming administration will “be in charge of their own work” rather than rely on the central government’s officials in the city to push their agenda, Hong Kong’s chief executive-elect pledged as she sought to distinguish herself from her predecessor.
“Under the high degree of autonomy, SAR government officials should be in charge of their own work,” Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Tuesday.
“I will see that as the guiding principle of the new cabinet,” the former chief secretary stressed in a radio interview.
During Leung’s tenure, the liaison office – the main bridge of communication between Hong Kong and mainland China – has been accused of becoming involved in local politics.
A number of pro-establishment legislators have admitted the office lobbied them to back the local government’s unpopular bills and funding requests, or help block some motions that pan-democrats had wished to push forward in the legislature.
“Why would we need so many people to help [canvass votes] even from the pro-establishment bloc? Why can’t we secure their votes?” Lam asked. “This is something that we should reflect on.”
Lam said she believed the liaison office often decided to weigh in after being “informed” that the administration had failed to secure sufficient votes to get bills and funding requests passed.
