Principal Officials Accountability System (Traditional Chinese: 主要官員問責制, often abbreviated to POAS, commonly known as 高官問責制 or 問責制) was introduced by Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa in July 2002, the beginning of his second term, as part of his government reform programme. The main purpose for the creation of this system was to ward off public complaints that he leads a disunited and weak government. Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets. ... Donald Tsang The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Traditional Chinese: 香港特別行政區行政長官, Simplified Chinese: 香港特别行政区行政长官; Cantonese Jyutping: hoeng1 gong2 dak6 bit6 hang4 zing3 keoi1 hang4 zing3 zoeng2 gwun1; Mandarin Pinyin: XiānggÇŽng Tèbié XíngzhèngqÅ« Xíngzhèng ZhÇŽngguān) is the head of the... Lo Mung Tung Lo Mung Tung (Traditional Chinese: 老懵董; Simplified Chinese: 白菜; Cantonese IPA: ; Jyutping: dung2 gin3 waa4; Mandarin Pinyin: DÇ’ng Jiànhuá) (July 7, 1937-December 8, 2005) was the first elected Chief Executive (July 1, 1997–March 12, 2005) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People...

Overview

Background

Hong Kong after the transfer of sovereignty had inherited the colonial system that all positions in the government are filled by civil servants. This was largely because the system had the merit of efficiency, and had contributed to the success and prosperity of Hong Kong. It was also seen as a symbol of continuity and stability.

Since the reversion to China, there has been an erosion of the running principles of the Executive Council (Execo) - some Execo members have violated the "collective responsibility" principles, namely being unsupportive to the decisions made by Execo. See this as the cause of many of his policy failures such as the "85,000 Housing Reform", Tung introduced POAS in 2002 to remedy the weaknesses as he perceived of the Hong Kong government.

The introduction of the system was seen as an opportunity for him to appoint his subordinates, who will no longer necessary be from the civil services, according to his wishes.

Operations

The POAS is similar to the cabinet of the United States Federal Government in that the Chief Executive is responsible for nominating and replacing the officials. This is a radical departure from the previous system, where secretaries, who are heads of policy bureaux came from the civil service. The POAS officials serve at the Chief's Executive's pleasure, and they are, in theory, held accountable for policy errors and mishaps (as in resigning when major policy flops or scandals occur). A cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789 by a constitutional convention, sets down the basic framework of American government in its seven articles. ... The Hong Kong civil service is managed by 11 policy bureaux in the Government Secretariat, and 67 departments and agencies, mostly staffed by civil servants. ...

In the past only the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary and Secretary for Justice are ex-officio members of the Executive Council. Unofficial members were majority in the council. After the introduction of the POAS, all secretaries are appointed to the council, and leaders of the larger parties in the Legislative Council are appointed to the council, effectively transforming the council into a cabinet, with the unofficial members like ministers-without-portfolio. The Executive Council (ExCo) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China is an organ in the Executive branch of the political structure of Hong Kong. ... The Legislative Council (abbreviated as LegCo; Chinese: 立法會, Pinyin: Lìfǎ Huì; formerly 立法局, Lìfǎ Jú) is the unicameral legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A Minister without Portfolio is a government minister with no specific responsibilities. ...

implications

Since the introduction of POAS, the government has shown a tendency to ally with certain political parties in Hong Kong such as the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), resulting in a clear division of the political spectrum - the pro-government camp led by the DAB and the anti-government camp led by the Democratic Party (DP).

Flaws

However, accountability did not increase in practice, for former Chief Executive Tung often ignored the policy errors and scandals made by his POAS officials, and asked them to stay. Good examples would be Antony Leung (see Lexusgate scandal for more details), Frederick Ma with his responsibility in a stock crisis that evaporated billions of dollars worth of stock value, and Regina Ip with her controversial promotion of the Basic Law Article 23. Antony Leung Kam-chung GBS JP (梁錦松, Pinyin: Liáng Jǐnsōng, born 1952 in Hong Kong) was the former Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). ... Antony Leung Kam-chung GBS JP (梁錦松, Pinyin: Liáng Jǐnsōng, born 1952 in Hong Kong) was the former Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). ... Frederick Ma Si-hang (馬時亨) is (as of 2004) the Secretary of Financial Services and Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. ... Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee (葉劉淑儀) is a formerly prominent government official of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). ... Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 is the basis (parent statute) of a security law proposed by the Hong Kong government. ...

It is the belief of many Hong Kong people that under the POAS system, accountability actually decreased. Faith in the system, not high in the beginning already, fell to new lows in 2003, leading many people to dub the system AAS (Accountability Avoidance System). The protection Tung offered to his beleaguered officials was one of the factors that led to the 1 July protest in which hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people participated. Only after the protest did Tung reluctantly accepted the resignation of Ip and Leung. Ma remains unscathed. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ...

Future

The future of the POAS remains unclear. The current Chief Executive, Donald Tsang (himself a former POAS official) has vowed not to replace any of the POAS officials who were in office before his inauguration. However, it is not known if Tsang would scrap or extensively reform the system after he wins an election in his own right in 2007. However, many Hong Kong people believe that Tsang would hold his POAS officials more accountable for everything they do, and dismiss them when they need to. Sir Donald Tsang Yam Kuen GBM JP KBE (Chinese: 曾蔭權, Pinyin: Zēng Yīnquán, born October 7, 1944) has been the Chief Executive of Hong Kong since 2005. ... 2007 (MMVII) will be a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...