Carrie Lam accused of hijacking union rally to drum up support for political reform package
Lawmaker attacks chief secretary for speaking out for reform package at union event, while an analyst calls it sign of government desperation
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was accused yesterday of hijacking a rally organised by the city's biggest labour union to promote the government's political reform package.
Chinese University political scientist Dr Ma Ngok said Lam's move showed how desperate the government was to win public support.
Lam made the surprise appearance in the rally at Tamar Park after a Labour Day march by the Beijing-loyalist Federation of Trade Unions.
The rally was originally scheduled to end after a police officer represented the government in receiving the federation's petition on labour rights. But the federation's president, Lam Shuk-yee, raised eyebrows when he announced that a government official was coming to "listen to the workers' political demands".
The unionist and about 20 FTU lawmakers and leaders then braved the rain and chanted slogans for about 10 minutes calling for universal suffrage in 2017, before Carrie Lam arrived in her car and addressed the rally.
Referring to the government's reform package unveiled on April 22, Lam said: "Do not listen to those who said that the proposal is fake universal suffrage, because it is a real and competitive one … It will give five million eligible voters a vote, and 'one man, one vote' means the chief executive and his cabinet will be closer to public opinion."
The minister refused to say whether she initiated her publicity blitz or whether she was invited, but Lam Shuk-yee said the FTU had asked for an official to attend because some members hoped that the rally would not focus only on labour rights.
Lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan of the Confederation of Trade Unions said: "It is ridiculous for a government, which damages labour rights, to hijack a Labour Day rally. Has Lam said anything to support standard working hours? I think she is not eligible to speak on the stage."
And Ma said: "It makes people feel that the FTU is affiliated to the government … which is desperate [for public approval]."
FTU chairman Stanley Ng Chau-pei said Lam was just showing support for workers and responding to their demands.
But while Lam spoke to government supporters, Executive Council convenor Lam Woon-kwong directly addressed the 27 pan-democratic lawmakers who have vowed to deny the package the required two-thirds majority in the Legislative Council.
Speaking on RTHK, Lam questioned the logic of the pan-democrats and said they should not take part in the "small-circle" election in 2017 if they rejected the reform package. Should reform be voted down, the 2017 poll would be decided by a committee of 1,200 people, as in 2012.
"Let's assume all 27 pan-democrats stick to their ground to veto the reform, then the same election like 2012 will be held. Will the pan-democrats then, like before, support another candidate to fight in this small-circle election?" Lam asked.
"By the extension of the logic, you won't. Because you can't even support this current proposal, so you can't really join the game again in 2017."
But pan-democratic lawmakers on the same programme reiterated that they would veto the reform because otherwise they would be marginalised by their own supporters.
Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing said the pan-democrats would "not want to exert influence" in an election that failed to give Hongkongers a genuine choice.
She said recent opinion polls had shown young people and the better educated were more inclined to reject the package.
The government's reform blueprint follows a stringent framework laid down by Beijing last year, which allows only two or three candidates to go forward in a citywide poll after they win majority support from a 1,200-strong nominating committee.
