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6. The Civil Service and Political Reform
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
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TheCivilServiceandPoliticalReforrm AnthonyB .L .Cheun g 1.TheTraditiono fAdministrationb yBureaucrat s DuringBritis hrule ,Hon gKon gwasru na san"administrativ estate, "wit h thesenio rcivi lservant sdoublin ga sbot hpolicy-maker san dpolicy executors an di neffectconstitutin gth eexecutiv eunde rth ecomman do f thecolonialGovernor.Thepoliticaltransformationfollowingthe1984SinoBritish Join tDeclaratio ntriggere da processo fconstitutionalchang ean d thedevelopmen to fa mor erepresentativ efor mo fgovernment ,a s manifestedi ntheopeningu poftheLegislativ eCounci l(LegCo )t osom e electedrepresentatives . Inincorporatin ga framewor kfo rfutur epolitica ldemocratisatio nint oth e BasicLa wfo rth ene wHon gKon gSpecia lAdministrativ eRegio n (HKSAR),muc hattentio nwa sfocusse do nway so fselectin gth eChie f ExecutiveandLegCo.Bycontrast,theproperroleofthecivilserviceinthe newgovernmenta lstructur ewa sessentiall yignored .Bot hth eChines e andtheBritishGovernmentseemedtotakeitasgiventhatthecivilservice wouldfunctio na si tha dbefor e199 7unde rHon gKong' sso-calle d "executive-led"system.TheBasi cLa wwa swritte ni nawaytha timplie d thatthepostsof"principalofficials"(equivalenttosecretary-rankposition s inthecolonialadministration)wouldbefilledbycareercivilservants,even thoughprocedurally,inkeepingwiththecolonialpracticewherethepowe r ofappointmentreste dwiththeSecretar yo fStat ei nLondon,allprincipa l officialswouldb enominatedb ytheChiefExecutiv ean dappointedb ythe CentralPeople' sGovernmen ti nBeijing. 1 Som eo fthepoint si nthispape rcom efromSynergyNet' spape rHow to Take GovernanceReform Forward- Accountabilityto Whom and How? Jun e2002 ,Hon gKong . BuildingDemocracy7 1 TheCivilServiceandPoliticalReform In1997,thenewl yappointedChie fExecutiv eTungChee-hwaretaine dal l incumbentsecretarie so fthecolonia lgovernmen ta shi sprincipa lofficial s inthei rorigina lportfolios ,wit hth eexceptio no fth eappointmen to fElsi e LeungasSecretaryforJusticetoreplaceformerAttorneyGeneralJerem y Matthewswho,asaBritishnational,couldnotcontinuetoserveinthenew HKSARGovernment .Althoug heve ni ncolonia ldays ,ther eha dbee n instanceswher eperson soutsid eth ecaree rcivi lservic ewer eappointe d assecretarie s- notabl yth eappointmen to fJoh nBremridge ,a forme r taipanofSwireCompany,asFinancialSecretaryintheearly1980 sandof JamesBlake,aprivatesectorengineer,asSecretaryforWorksinthemid1990s - th enor mha dalway sbee ntha tsecretar ypost swer efille db y memberso fth eadministrativ eclass ,an doccasionall yb yofficer sfro m professionalgrade si nselectedpolic yportfolio ssuchasWorks. 2.Tensionsi nthePolitica lSyste m Theperio dfollowin gth eintroductio no felecte dmember st oLegCo , particularlyafte rth eadven to fdirec telection si n1991 ,sawth eris eo f politicalpartie san delecte dpolitician swh ouse dth elegislatur ea sth e mainplatfor mforpolic yinfluenc ean dwhowerekee ntosharethepolicy making powerspreviousl yconfinedtothecivilservicebureaucracy.Publi c andmedi aattentio nals otende dt ofocu so nLegC oa sth eforu...