18 May 2006

Hong Kong is a city of doers. It is a place that favours the bold - those who think on their feet and move quickly and decisively to grab opportunities.

In our day to day lives, in our day to day jobs, we operate in a dynamic, fast-paced, inspiring and often exhilarating business environment.

Why then is it that our political system seems to be so out of step with the rest of the city? Why then is it that while our economy is full of movers and shakers, our political scene seems to be one of bickering and stagnation. Why is it that while our businesses race ahead and set the pace for the rest of Asia, our political system seems to be mired down by inertia, bogged down by bureaucracy and ending up in stalemate. Who or what is to blame? I can say with some confidence that it isn ' t our people who are the problem. The problem is our political system. We are fortunate in Hong Kong. We have some highly dedicated and forward-thinking legislators who want to get things done and who genuinely want to see change for the good, change for the better. We have a chief executive Mr Donald Tsang who is passionate and honest in his desire to see Hong Kong catch the tide of opportunity and establish itself as Asia ' s world city in every sense of the word.

So why then does everything on the political scene seem to move so slowly? Why is the political process viewed with so much cynicism and lack of expectation by so many of our citizens? Why do projects like the West Kowloon reclamation and the Tamar site development end up in deadlock and discord? Why is it that we seem unable to move forward decisively on the big issues facing our cities like pollution and constitutional development? Why, with so many able legislators and efficient officials apparently fuelled with a desire to work for the common good, does our way forward as a city seem so unclear and so murky?

The pan-democratic camp ' s solution is universal suffrage. They think that universal suffrage will solve all the above problems. The Liberal Party disagrees. We feel that the central problem is our political structure.

We are in effect victims of our own system. It is a system in which the ruling administration has no seats in the legislature to smooth the path for the policies it wants to pursue. It is a system in which the chief executive has no official political allies to call upon, whether or not he is directly elected.
No government in the world can rule effectively without votes in the legislature. They all need consistent support from allies and government-friendly parties. This has not yet happened in Hong Kong and that is the fundamental flaw in our current system.
What was designed as a blueprint for fairness and impartiality is in reality a recipe for policy paralysis. Without alliances and without representation in the legislature, the chief executive and his administration are at best unrepresentative, at worst paralysed into inaction by a lack of support in the legislature. That is why I proposed an amendment to the Chief Executive Election Bill which would have allowed the leader of Hong Kong to be a member of a political party.

That is why I support the Chief Executive forming a political alliance with the DAB and the Liberal Party and continuing to seek out a broader and more representative group of political allies to help put his policies into action. Nine years have passed since 1997, and now is a critical time for us to take our political system forward. A political leader without allies and allegiances is as symbolic and ineffective in a political system as a constitutional monarch. We cannot afford to have a leader whose job description is to lead and yet the reality is otherwise. There have been signs of progress in recent weeks with Mr Tsang seeking out political alliances and a bond with the pro-central government DAB. That is something that I warmly welcome. It will define our political boundaries more clearly. It will help our political system mature. It will allow for open and honest debate and dialogue between government officials and legislators who share similar ideals, economic philosophy and political beliefs. But now is also the time for Mr Tsang to seek out a wider spectrum of allies, including the Alliance and other like- minded, independent legislators. What he needs to drive our political system forward is a policy coalition in which legislators speaking on behalf of their constituents have his ear and have a voice at the heart of government.

If Mr Tsang truly wants to listen to the voice of the people, as I believe he does, he must allow other representatives of the people - the legislators - to have a real voice in the running of Hong Kong.

He must seek out partners, allies on a more equal footing, who will not just rubber-stamp his policies but offer him constructive advice and criticism where necessary. Mr Tsang needs allies who will speak their minds, say their piece and stand shoulder to shoulder once a consensus has been reached.

It is through such alliances that Mr Tsang can build a representative government. Once he has that, he will have an administration that has the power within the Legislative council to pass laws and give the funding to policies that need it. We live in one of the world ' s most exciting and stimulating cities. It is a city and a people that deserve a dynamic and a progressive government. To the Chief Executive, I say " Let ' s get to work. Let ' s form partnerships. Let ' s start to change things and build a stable and effective political system. " If we can achieve that goal, I believe it will bring forward the day when we will see universal suffrage in Hong Kong.