Record-breaking number of senior officials leave Carrie Lam’s administration
The average number of senior administrative officers leaving the Hong Kong government has surpassed those recorded during the tenure of the last chief executive Leung Chun-ying.
Since Carrie Lam took office in July 2017, 44 administrative officers — excluding those who retired — have left the government including 17 from the top directorate level. During Leung’s five-year tenure, 49 administrative officers left including 14 of the directorate level.
On average, 12 administrative officers left every year during Lam’s term, which is the highest number among all chief executives, compared to the average of 11 during Donald Tsang’s term and nine from Tung Chee-hwa’s. Administrative officers are top government officials selected through an examination process, and can rise to become the top civil servant role of permanent secretary.
Before Lam took office, former Democratic Party chair Emily Lau said in an interview with Lam that a senior official had told her about a mass exodus of administrative officers from the government, including three permanent secretaries. Lam was arrogant and hard to work with as she believed she was smarter than everyone else, Lau told Apple Daily.
Administrative officers were also leaving due to government policies that were illogical and difficult to execute, Lau said, using the examples of COVID-19 distancing rules where no more than four people could gather in public, but six people could sit in one table at a restaurant. The policies were made top-down and without consultation, with administrative officers deciding to leave as they could not express their opinions, Lau said.The tense political atmosphere in Hong Kong also forced administrative officers to resign, said Chinese University of Hong Kong political scientist Ma Ngok. To avoid violating procedural justice, the best choice for civil servants was to quit, he said.
Civil servants are facing more and more political pressure, Ma said, as some administrative officers would act as returning officers during elections and had to disqualify candidates. Others at the Education Bureau would have to scrap the Liberal Studies subject, while some may even have to fire their own subordinates due to political reasons, Ma said.Senior civil servants would consider the impact of the upcoming requirement of taking an oath to pledge loyalty, as violation of the oath would not only mean losing their jobs but criminal prosecution, Ma said. Senior officials may choose to speed up their plans of leaving Hong Kong as foreign countries rolled out attractive migration packages, he said.
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