(English content only)

Just doing my duty
26-07-2008

Despite some controversy, Anson Chan has no regrets as she steps down from her Legco post, writes Chris Yeung
If I had to make my decision all over again, knowing what I know today, I think I would still make that decision. The past eight months is an important chapter in my life."

That was the brief conclusion made by Anson Chan Fang On-sang, the chief secretary-turned-legislator, in an interview after attending a Finance Committee session on July 18, which effectively marked the end of her eight-month stint in the Legislative Council.

Mrs Chan, who is 68, has decided not to seek re-election after defeating Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee in a fiercely fought battle in the Hong Kong Island by-election following the death of former DAB chairman Ma Lik last year. Reflecting on her experience of elective politics, she said the process of talking and listening to the masses during her campaign had made an impact on her thoughts about society.

Whereas in Legco, Mrs Chan said she had gained a deeper understanding on the importance of the use of power in a judicious way by the government.

"It makes you appreciate it more when you are in the government with a lot of helping hands; you can get a lot done by exercising your powers judiciously {hellip} I won't be able to do it now, as power is not with me," she said.

"I always remind myself power is not for your personal gratification or to realise personal ambition. Power is there to enable you to get things done for the public good.

This is what I mean by judicious exercise of power. I don't think Donald Tsang has used his power judiciously."

Joining the government as an administrative officer in 1962, Mrs Chan rose through the ranks before the handover. With Hong Kong's last governor, Chris Patten, taking a back seat, Mrs Chan was widely seen as the woman in charge.

She quit the government in 2001 - 15 months earlier than originally planned - after the then chief executive Tung Chee-hwa decided to press ahead with the introduction of the Principal Official Accountability System that Mrs Chan had grave reservations about.

More than five years on, she returned to the Legco chamber, taking her seat on the opposite side of the rows of officials, getting first-hand experience of the depth of frustrations and anger among lawmakers towards her former colleagues.

"I think the executive-legislature relationship has got worse. You don't even get their basic respect," she said.

"When I was the chief secretary, I made an effort to sit through the question time session [at the regular Wednesday meeting]. It's a question of basic respect. Furthermore, I need to know how other policy secretaries perform so that I can evaluate their performance. "No one now bothers to remind principal officials to attend meetings more regularly. All these basic values, standards of practice and rules are gone."

She said the introduction of the accountability system in 2002 had brought about profound changes in the way the government was administered. With their term of appointment fixed, she said ministers became short-sighted.

"Everything is done for the sake of political expediency, winning applause. Issues that are difficult to resolve have been swept under the carpet. As civil servants are employed permanently, they don't have to worry about their future and therefore can think long-term."

Having worked closely with Mr Tsang over a long period straddling the handover, Mrs Chan has admitted she has exercised extra caution when dealing with principal officials, some of whom had worked under her when she was still in the government.

"Donald is not a broad-minded person. I don't want to cause embarrassment to those principal officials inside the chamber {hellip} On the first day of my days in Legco, [Secretary for Education] Michael Suen [Ming-yeung] had passed on a note to congratulate me. With that, I feel more relaxed about maintaining contact with him.

"I have no intention of taking a confrontational approach. I take my stance issue by issue and tell them how I would vote," she said.

Although categorised in the pan-democratic camp, Mrs Chan has departed from the democrats on issues including the granting of a HK$2 billion funding for the reconstruction of the earthquake-hit Sichuan province . She abstained. When some undersecretaries came under enormous pressure for them to relinquish their foreign nationality, she was one of the few who insisted they didn't need to do so under the Basic Law.

Mrs Chan said it was a matter of sticking to her principles - which she would have done regardless of whether she acted as armchair critic outside Legco or as a member who had to bite the bullet.

"My consideration is whether I can vote with a clear conscience ... The government has failed to explain why it was done so hastily. More importantly, it has set a precedent. The government doesn't even know the implications."

With the funding granted for the disposal of the high-level government body led by chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen, she said principal officials and civil servants paid by taxpayers would have to handle those reconstruction-related issues.

"I'm not saying we must not do so, but we should think carefully about the implications. You are not talking about HK$2, but HK$2 billion {hellip} When it comes to crunch time in an election year, political parties have to consider [the political impact of policies]. I don't have to," she said.
"In principle, I can agree to the funding. But without details, I have no choice but to abstain."

Mrs Chan said she was not surprised by the excessive play of politics in Legco business. "Some members play to the public gallery. I don't have to do so. Human beings are human beings. If you treat them badly, how can you expect them to co-operate with you?"

Mrs Chan was at the centre of controversy when Home Affairs Secretary Tsang Tak-shing ridiculed her as a "sudden democrat" and "sudden livelihood [advocate] at a Legco session.

After one of several sharp exchanges she had with Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung on election issues including exit polls, she lamented that her former close aide had changed so much she no longer knew who he was.

On Mr Tsang's broadside, she said: "Did I say something provocative that deserved such a hostile response? It didn't reflect badly on me. He will never recover from that. I take it easy with things like that. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to survive."

One bone of contention was over the conducting of exit polls on elections days. Mr Lam argued that pollsters should enjoy academic freedom to do so. He hinted that pan-democrats strongly opposed it because they did not have enough money to conduct their own polls.

"He [Mr Lam] knows clearly that people cheat by using the results of exit polls to influence voting during the voting period. How can he twist it and blame us for not respecting academic freedom?" she said.

Now that Beijing has made a commitment to universal suffrage by 2017 and 2020 respectively, she said she would like to move on to new areas outside Legco, including mentoring young aspirants and engaging the community on the electoral-reform debate.

Asked if this is the beginning of the end of her public life, Mrs Chan said: "No {hellip} I have no pre-determined view about where I should be in different stages of my life. You enjoy this process when you have it. You have no regret when you leave it because there's life after that.