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The฀Civil฀Service฀and฀Political฀Reforrm฀ Anthony฀B .฀L .฀Cheun g฀ 1.฀The฀Tradition฀o f฀Administration฀b y฀Bureaucrat s฀ During฀Britis h฀rule ,฀Hon g฀Kon g฀was฀ru n฀a s฀an฀"administrativ e฀state, "฀wit h฀ the฀senio r฀civi l฀servant s฀doublin g฀a s฀bot h฀policy-maker s฀an d฀policy executors ฀an d฀i n฀effect฀constitutin g฀th e฀executiv e฀unde r฀th e฀comman d฀o f฀ the฀colonial฀Governor.฀The฀political฀transformation฀following฀the฀1984฀SinoBritish ฀Join t฀Declaratio n฀triggere d฀a ฀process฀o f฀constitutional฀chang e฀an d฀ the฀developmen t฀o f฀a ฀mor e฀representativ e฀for m฀o f฀government ,฀a s฀ manifested฀i n฀the฀opening฀u p฀of฀the฀Legislativ e฀Counci l฀(LegCo )฀t o฀som e฀ elected฀representatives .฀ In฀incorporatin g฀a ฀framewor k฀fo r฀futur e฀politica l฀democratisatio n฀int o฀th e฀ Basic฀La w฀fo r฀th e฀ne w฀Hon g฀Kon g฀Specia l฀Administrativ e฀Regio n฀ (HKSAR),฀muc h฀attentio n฀wa s฀focusse d฀o n฀way s฀o f฀selectin g฀th e฀Chie f฀ Executive฀and฀LegCo.฀By฀contrast,฀the฀proper฀role฀of฀the฀civil฀service฀in฀the฀ new฀governmenta l฀structur e฀wa s฀essentiall y฀ignored .฀Bot h฀th e฀Chines e฀ and฀the฀British฀Government฀seemed฀to฀take฀it฀as฀given฀that฀the฀civil฀service฀ would฀functio n฀a s฀i t฀ha d฀befor e฀199 7฀unde r฀Hon g฀Kong' s฀so-calle d฀ "executive-led"฀system.฀The฀Basi c฀La w฀wa s฀writte n฀i n฀a฀way฀tha t฀implie d฀ that฀the฀posts฀of฀"principal฀officials"฀(equivalent฀to฀secretary-rank฀position s฀ in฀the฀colonial฀administration)฀would฀be฀filled฀by฀career฀civil฀servants,฀even฀ though฀procedurally,฀in฀keeping฀with฀the฀colonial฀practice฀where฀the฀powe r฀ of฀appointment฀reste d฀with฀the฀Secretar y฀o f฀Stat e฀i n฀London,฀all฀principa l฀ officials฀would฀b e฀nominated฀b y฀the฀Chief฀Executiv e฀an d฀appointed฀b y฀the฀ Central฀People' s฀Governmen t฀i n฀Beijing.฀ 1 ฀Som e฀o f฀the฀point s฀i n฀this฀pape r฀com e฀from฀SynergyNet' s฀pape r฀How ฀to ฀Take ฀Governance฀Reform฀ Forward฀- ฀Accountability฀to ฀Whom ฀and ฀How? ฀Jun e฀2002 ,฀Hon g฀Kong .฀ Building฀Democracy฀7 1฀ The฀Civil฀Service฀and฀Political฀Reform฀ In฀1997,฀the฀newl y฀appointed฀Chie f฀Executiv e฀Tung฀Chee-hwa฀retaine d฀al l฀ incumbent฀secretarie s฀o f฀the฀colonia l฀governmen t฀a s฀hi s฀principa l฀official s฀ in฀thei r฀origina l฀portfolios ,฀wit h฀th e฀exceptio n฀o f฀th e฀appointmen t฀o f฀Elsi e฀ Leung฀as฀Secretary฀for฀Justice฀to฀replace฀former฀Attorney฀General฀Jerem y฀ Matthews฀who,฀as฀a฀British฀national,฀could฀not฀continue฀to฀serve฀in฀the฀new฀ HKSAR฀Government .฀Althoug h฀eve n฀i n฀colonia l฀days ,฀ther e฀ha d฀bee n฀ instances฀wher e฀person s฀outsid e฀th e฀caree r฀civi l฀servic e฀wer e฀appointe d฀ as฀secretarie s฀- ฀notabl y฀th e฀appointmen t฀o f฀Joh n฀Bremridge ,฀a ฀forme r฀ taipan฀of฀Swire฀Company,฀as฀Financial฀Secretary฀in฀the฀early฀1980 s฀and฀of฀ James฀Blake,฀a฀private฀sector฀engineer,฀as฀Secretary฀for฀Works฀in฀the฀mid1990s ฀- ฀th e฀nor m฀ha d฀alway s฀bee n฀tha t฀secretar y฀post s฀wer e฀fille d฀b y฀ members฀o f฀th e฀administrativ e฀class ,฀an d฀occasionall y฀b y฀officer s฀fro m฀ professional฀grade s฀i n฀selected฀polic y฀portfolio s฀such฀as฀Works.฀ 2.฀Tensions฀i n฀the฀Politica l฀Syste m฀ The฀perio d฀followin g฀th e฀introductio n฀o f฀electe d฀member s฀t o฀LegCo ,฀ particularly฀afte r฀th e฀adven t฀o f฀direc t฀election s฀i n฀1991 ,฀saw฀th e฀ris e฀o f฀ political฀partie s฀an d฀electe d฀politician s฀wh o฀use d฀th e฀legislatur e฀a s฀th e฀ main฀platfor m฀for฀polic y฀influenc e฀an d฀who฀were฀kee n฀to฀share฀the฀policy making ฀powers฀previousl y฀confined฀to฀the฀civil฀service฀bureaucracy.฀Publi c฀ and฀medi a฀attentio n฀als o฀tende d฀t o฀focu s฀o n฀LegC o฀a s฀th e฀foru...

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