EJ Insight » Hong KongToday, 12:26 PM
CY Leung (inset) says he will welcome young district council election candidates to join various government committees, regardless of the candidates' political affiliation. Photos: Facebook, RTHK
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said he is pleased to see many young candidates perform well in the district council elections, and that he would now like the fresh faces to join various work committees of the government, regardless of their political affiliation.
Speaking to reporters ahead of an executive council meeting on Tuesday, Leung said government representatives will contact the young candidates, including those who lost in the Sunday elections, to determine if they are interested in joining various panels and serving the community.
Ming Pao Daily News cited sources close to the government as saying that the administration is serious about its intention to rope in young district council candidates into official bodies.
Invitations will be sent to candidates from all groups, without paying heed to their political affiliations, the sources said.
Confirming the initiative, Baggio Leung Chung-hang, convenor of the new political group Youngspiration, said he was contacted by Lau Ming-wai, chairman of the Commission on Youth, on Tuesday for a possible meeting.
Asked about the chief executive’s remarks, Baggio Leung, who lost in a contest in Kwun Lung constituency of the Central and Western district in the Sunday polls, said he suspects that Leung Chun-yung was only trying to score points in a public relations exercise.
Having been in office for three and a half years, CY should be perfectly aware that young people have strong feelings about the government and its work, he said.
Youngspiration will hold a meeting on Wednesday to decide whether or not to meet up with Lau Ming-wai, and on the stance the group should take with regard a potential invitation to join government work committees.
Civic Party’s Cheng Tat-hung, 27, who has won from the Tanner constituency in North Point, said the chief executive was not sincere about mending the broken relationship with young people.
Yeung Suet-ying, a 29-year-old “Umbrella Soldier” who won from the Tai Hang constituency in Wanchai, said she would not join any committees whose discussions will not be made public.
Only if there is full transparency in the working of the committees, will she seriously consider joining the government panels, she said
Fellow umbrella soldier Wong Hok-lai, 22, the youngest winner in the latest district council election, said he wouldn’t want to become a rubber stamp, given that all government committees are now dominated by representatives of the pro-establishment camp.
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