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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam, in response to a media question after attending the Legislative Council Panel on Constitutional Affairs meeting this morning (May 9):
Reporter: About the Government Secretariat restructuring proposal, some lawmakers have raised concern about the lack of public consultation or discussion. How would you respond to their concerns?
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: As I mentioned a few days ago at a radio phone-in programme, according to our local legislation, the Chief Executive (CE) Election has to be conducted roughly 100 days before July 1. So for any change of the CE and his or her government every five years, if there should be mass consultation, that would actually prevent the CE-elect to restructure any Government Secretariat. And for that matter, I myself consider such a proposal not practical nor reasonable. As a matter of fact, I believe the essence of the matter is that any restructuring of the Government Secretariat should be with the purpose to further the election platform of any CE-elect. In this light, I believe that judging from the election platform of Mr (C Y) Leung and his current proposal to restructure the Government Secretariat, I can see the policy consistency there. The current-term Government has also pledged that we would fully co-operate and would process the necessary legislative procedures on their behalf as well. That is why on Monday (May 7) I had, in my name, put forward a resolution to the Legislative Council.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:12
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