Policy Address by Chief Executive C.H. Tung "a great disappointment"

October 7, 1998

The Democratic Party called today's Policy Address by Chief Executive C.H. Tung "a great disappointment." The Chief Executive, said party chairman Martin Lee, "lacks leadership, and his speech lacked direction." "Mr. Tung does not have his finger on the pulse of the Hong Kong people." The Chief Executive, said Mr. Lee, "offered nothing to alleviate the fears of the Hong Kong people concerning the loss of jobs and cuts in wages."

Martin Lee also assailed the Tung administration's plan to replace the majority-elected Municipal Councils with appointed government bureaus as "a step backward" and "anti-democratic." "This decision takes Hong Kong in the wrong direction and shows that Mr. Tung's administration is completely out of step with the world-wide trend toward democracy," said Martin Lee. Martin Lee cited the establishment of the provisional legislative council, the amendment of civil liberties laws, and the Tung administration's attempts to make the Legislative Council even more of a rubber stamp.