Leung Chin-man Appointment Controversy - Political Fallout

Political Fallout

Yue lost credibility within and outside government circles as a result of the case, but said she hoped to stay in her position. Commentator Chris Yeung stated that Tsang's request for the bureaux to do their job again deals a body blow to the authority and image of Yue and the bureaux. A SCMP editorial criticised the "glaring lack of political sense of some of our senior officials." Lee Wing-tat said it was clear from the episode that the government considered the public stupid. Albert Cheng pointed to the composition of the four-man Advisory committee, saying that issues would have been flagged had it included pan-democrats instead of just establishment figures.

There were only muted calls for Secretary's resignation. Commentators suggested that parties feared that demands for Yue's resignation would alienate civil servants in the forthcoming LegCo elections.

The next day, Donald Tsang confirmed that Denise Yue would not have to resign. He was satisfied with her apology and with the explanations offered by her. Tsang ordered a committee, of which Yue was to be a member, to be set up to perform a sweeping review of the system to process applications for former civil servants. This sparked fears among civil servants that their job opportunities after retirement would be curtailed.

In an op-ed, Christopher Cheung states that Leung was quickly sentenced by the court of public opinion, and was "dangerously close to mob rule". The facts of the case rested on guidelines introduced in January 2006 which "elevate public opinion to the level of tyranny", and whose rigid entry and exit criteria from the civil service stand in the way of modernising the civil service.