Central Policy Unit head Shiu Sin-por calls for team to lobby lawmakers
Chief of government's Central Policy Unit brains trust says existing system of political appointees ineffective in lobbying divided legislature
An adviser to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has called on the government to consider setting up a team of officials for the task of lobbying lawmakers.
Central Policy Unit head Shiu Sin-por told reporters in Beijing on Sunday that the existing team of political appointees was not big enough to lobby the city's divided legislature.
"Every minister is doing the lobbying work for their bills but their networks with political parties are non-transferable among the policy bureaus," Shiu said. "We need a team of a scale similar to America's congressional liaison office."
Under the three-tier political appointment system, the ministers and their undersecretaries and political assistants are responsible for political liaison and lobbying.
The government has struggled to win support, even from allies, in its recent attempts to pass legislation, including that for extra stamp duty on property transactions.
The government's problem in mustering enough votes has given rise to suspicions of interference by the central government's liaison office. And it almost faced a Legco probe into its decision to reject Hong Kong Television Network's application for a free-to-air TV licence.