Coattail politics

ON the mainland the ttaaiizziiddaanngg is the class of people who occupy important positions in government or business because of their parents' influence. The SAR government should have regard to candidates' ability when it decides whether to appoint them to its advisory or statutory bodies.

However, as this newspaper reports today, rich and influential people's children occupy 103 of those seats.

A Hong Kong ttaaiizziiddaanngg seems to have come into being. What has happened in the Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council is telling telling. A seat vacated by . one of its members has been filled by his nephew, and that of another, by the other's elder brother. The seats on the Council seem to have become hereditary.

Last January the SAR government appointed 42 part part--time members of the Central Policy Unit (CPU).

Six of them are children of important persons in the pro pro--Beijing camp. That had society suspect the CPU might have become "princelings' club".

It is no sin to be born of bigwigs. Rich and influential people's children may not be good good--for for--nothing inheritors. Many bigwigs' children have outshined their parents. The problem is that, though none of those bigwigs' children made part part--time Central Policy Unit members seem particularly capable, they are now the SAR government's brain trusters trusters. Some have . therefore wondered whether capable people whose parents are not as influential as theirs would have equal opportunities to go into politics or join the government.

What statutory or advisory bodies do materially affects citizens' lives. Unless capable people are appointed to them, the SAR government can hardly become more effective, and it may be out of touch with public sentiment. We are worried that, when rich and influential people's children abound in government bodies, the government may listen only to one side,and its policies may be misguided.

More and more rich and influential people's children have been appointed to statutory or advisory bodies. That shows the SAR government and the privileged still have blind faith in the colonial system of the government protecting the business sector in return for its support. They still believe it helps keep Hong Kong politically stable. That is indeed even more worrying. More and more Legislative Council seats will be popularly elected. Furthermore, the Basic Laws provides that all the legislators will eventually be elected by universal suffrage. It is certain that the SAR government can no longer rely on privileged people who lack popular support to maintain normality. The days are gone when coattail politics could work. There is an irreversible trend towards civil society's growth. If the government has such blind faith in the "government government--business partnership" as not to see this fact, it will hinder Hong Kong's progress. It would also have hard times, for what citizens might then see would breed their resentment and even hatred.

People whose parents are bigwigs should realise they should try to win popular support if they want to go into politics. It is better for them to gain political power in elections than to rack their brains to fawn on top officials in the hope of receiving their bestowments.

If they do so, they will not be ill spoken of, and they can better achieve their ambitions.

明報社評

2010.08.09

提攜政治一去不復返用人「唯親」誤人誤己

「太子黨」是內地用語，意指依仗父母輩的影響力而躋身官商要職的權貴第二代。本報今日報道，本應任人唯才的香港特區政府法定組織和諮詢架構，原來有多達103 人次的委任屬權貴第二代，港版「太子黨」已隱然成形，其中的「大珠三角商務委員會」更出現「叔去侄來」、「弟退兄來」等恍如家族式壟斷的「世襲」情况。

今年11 月，中央政策組委任新一批42 名非全職顧問，其中66 人的父母在親中陣營是有頭有臉人物，當時社會已響起中策組淪為「太子黨俱樂部」的質疑。

「權貴二代」不是原罪，父母屬權貴不代表其子女一定是「二世祖」，更不代表他們一定是庸碌無能之輩。

過去不少名人之後都青出於藍勝於藍，創出一番比父母輩更佳的成績。問題是，獲委任的部分第二代，未見有何突出的才幹，便貴為特區政府的智囊，大眾便會問：其他沒有權貴父母支持的有能之士，是否也可以獲得同樣的從政或議政機會呢？

法定或諮詢組織對社會民生有實質的影響，這些組織的重任若不由有能者居之，特區政府的管治能力除了難以提升外，其對民情的掌握亦會有偏頗。我們擔心若官方組織充斥權貴二代，兼聽就變成偏聽，進而令政策易生偏差。

更教人憂慮的是，權貴二代相繼獲邀進入法定或諮詢組織，反映出特區政府以至特權階級，至今仍然迷信香港的政局可以憑藉着殖民地年代那一套： 「官護商、商撐官」來維繫。隨着議會的民選成分愈來愈大，而《基本法》又訂明了立法會將走向普選，特區政府已肯定不可以再單靠一批沒有民意基礎的特權階層來支撐局面。

褓抱提攜政治早已一去不復返，公民社會的逐步壯大是不可逆轉的歷史大潮，政府若然看不到這個事實，繼續迷思官商伙拍治港的一套，只會誤了社會的進程，自己亦不會有好日子過，因為市民會「看在眼裏，恨在心裏」，徒然增加社會的怨氣。

權貴二代亦應明白到，若要從政或議政，應從爭取民意授權入手。與其想方設計去巴結權貴、等候高官的恩賜，不如盡快循正途透過參選來取得政治權力。這樣一來，沒有人能再指三道四，更能大展抱負。

Glossary

telling

showing the truth about a situation.

brain truster

an expert adviser involved in making importantdecisions.

breed

be the cause of.