Hong Kong democrats say 'no' to power
By Janus Lam

HONG KONG - Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has announced the new members of Hong Kong's Executive Council (Exco), the territory's top decision-making body, and contrary to media speculation, the list did not contain a single democrat, not even the most likely candidate, Beijing critic Leong Kah-kit.

According to political experts, the pro-democracy camp deliberately chose to distance itself from the Executive Council because its members diverge greatly from the government position on many issues. In addition, outside the Exco, the camp is not restricted to strict closed-door confidentiality, but can communicate directly with Beijing, which has shown a new willingness to communicate. In the eyes of the democrats, this outweighs a toe-hold in the Tung administration, which they detest.

After the election for the Legislative Council (Legco) on September 12, rumors abounded that Tung planned to install some democrats in the Exco so as to hear Hong Kong's different voices and restore his deteriorating prestige. Some leaked news even specified that Leong Kah-kit, a newly elected legislator and member of the Article 45 Concern Group, had received an invitation from Tung. Nonetheless, the final list of new Exco members turned out to be otherwise, including incumbent legislator Bernard Chan and Laura Cha, former vice chairperson of China Securities Regulatory Commission, the mainland's top regulating body of the stock markets.

The Executive Council, which functions as Tung's cabinet, consists of 14 principal officials, appointed under the Accountability System, seven non-officials and another seven appointed members.  

Declining to confirm his receiving an invitation from Tung, Leong stressed that the Executive Council is not the only communication channel between the government and democrats. Tung could also improve his governance by listening more to the voices from the Legislative Council, Leong added.

Political pundits argue that those democrats who turned down seats value much more their relationship with Beijing than membership in the Exco. The Article 45 Concern Group, composed of elites in the legal profession, is now on good terms with Beijing. The group (which takes its name from Article 45 of Hong Kong's Basic Law stating that universal suffrage is the ultimate aim) doggedly pursues direct and universal suffrage in Hong Kong - but in such a way as not to alienate Beijing. After winning the September election, four members from the group were invited to a meeting with the Chinese government's liaison office in Hong Kong. In addition, they were also invited to Beijing for this year's National Day celebrations, which in the past were always closed to Hong Kong democrats. And they had a private audience with Hu Jintao, president, Chinese Communist Party chief and head of the party's military commission.

According to experts, the vast divergence between the democrats and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government - especially their significant difference over the constitutional development - also renders the democrats reluctant to join the Exco. Beijing has said the time is not yet right for universal suffrage for the Legislative Council and for Hong Kong's chief executive, though it says that is the eventual goal.

Most important of all, the Exco is now faced with the danger of being marginalized by Beijing as the latter seems to be trying to play a larger role in the territory's affairs, lest it lose control of this former British colony. Beijing is also aware of Tung's lack of popular support, his management problems and Hong Kong's economic troubles. Tung's problems - and the public's distrust of his pro-Beijing government - have become more pronounced since July 1, 2003, when half of a million residents took to the streets protesting persistent economic hardships and what they called Tung's mediocre performance. Some maintain the Executive Council itself increasingly is deteriorating into a salesman, a mouthpiece for the government.

The best thing Tung could do under such a situation was to strengthen and broaden his ruling camp. It is widely believed that Tung absorbed Bernard Chan into the Exco for his status as part of the newly formed group, The Alliance. Evolving from a loose-coalition breakfast group, The Alliance now represents essential minority votes in the Legislative Council and virtually helped Emily Lau catch up and replace Wong Yu-hong as the new chairwoman of the Legco's finance committee in late September.

The Legislative Council has 60 seats, 30 of them democratically elected, the other 30 functional constituencies. All in all, 25 now fall into the pro-democratic camp, making the five votes from The Alliance essential for passing or blocking government bills.

Unlike the Legco, the Exco swears its members to secrecy and group responsibility. When a policy is enacted, no member is allowed to make any critical comment on the policy or the government outside the council, even though he or she might disagree. If needed, Exco members could even be required to defend the enacted policy they oppose. Obviously, Tung's hand-picking of Bernard Chan is aimed at increasing his support in the Legco, therefore facilitating the passage and enforcement of government policies.

However, political pundits warn the authorities not to count too much on The Alliance, since it is still a loose coalition that does not require unanimous voting. Its members, all from functional constituencies, stave off a thinly veiled pro-government position as some candidates in functional constituencies just lost their seats in the Legco in last month's election because they completely toed the line of the Tung administration.

With his second and last term ending in only two years, Tung is desperately trying to win the hearts of the people in Hong Kong by luring some popular politicians into the Exco, thus maintaining his authority over the territory. Nonetheless, if Tung refuses to listen to the masses and his policymaking continues to deviate from mainstream sentiment, the alignment with The Alliance cannot benefit his administration, since it might yield to the pressure from voters if the public distrust of Tung does not diminish.

In 2003, Tung had already been taught a good lesson when a key Exco member James Tien, then deemed a proponent of Tung, suddenly decided to quit the council and opposed the hasty legislation of an unpopular anti-sedition law at the time desperately pushed forward by Tung. Could Tung afford more influential opponents and more unstable political ground?

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