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CS in LegCo debate on motion of thanks
Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary, the Hon Anson Chan, in the Legislative Council debate on the motion of thanks today (Thursday):
Mr President,
L
This afternoon my colleagues have attempted to respond positively to the many comments and suggestions made by Hon Members during this debate. I hope it would be clear from their speeches that far from being a "sunset Government", we have made significant progress in a wide range of Government programmes since 1992. Furthermore we have ambitious plans to improve both the range and quantity of our services in the years to come. As some Members have recognised, these programmes are set out in detail each year in the Policy Commitments issued by each Branch Secretary, and reported on each year in our Progress Report. In the latter report, we have acknowledged both our successes and our failures as part of a sustained effort to make the Administration more open and more accountable. I believe we are unique in the world in doing this.
As my colleagues have already noted the Policy Commitments provide the answers to many of the complaints and criticisms made in this Council last week. In particular, they show that our programmes extend well into the future, beyond 1997, often into the next century. This should not be surprising. Hong Kong will not come to an end on 30 June 1997. Nor will its Administration. Even though there may be a few changes of personnel - as the Governor has often pointed out, there must be at least one! - the vast majority of civil servants will be at their desks, doing the same jobs and implementing the same policies, on the next working day after the transfer of sovereignty.
Co-operation with LegCo
Many Members commented on what the Governor had to say about cooperation between the executive and the legislature. Unfortunately, most focused on the three sentences in which he referred to his constitutional power to refuse assent to legislation, and ignored the context in which he put this. Some even complained about "executive dictatorship", a concept which I find rather hard to accept when the Administration has no votes at all in this Council.