The local opposition parties always complain about the inefficiency of Hong Kong's political system, particularly the Chief Executive (CE) election, which it has labeled a "small-circle election" in reference to the 1,200-member election body. They argue if the CE is selected by "one person, one vote", our government's efficiency will be raised significantly.

The director of the Audit Commission (DAC) has seriously criticized some government departments in a recent report. Does it in any way support the opposition's argument for "genuine universal suffrage"? The answer, after some careful reading of the report, is clearly "No".

The audit watchdog finds only one policy made by the incumbent CE inadequate - the new public housing supply target announced in this year's Policy Address. The stated target of 200,000 public rental housing (PRH) units would be reached in phases in the coming 10 years. However, DAC examined the planning, construction and redevelopment of PRH flats and found two mistakes: First, the projections made by the Housing Department that more than 179,000 flats would be built in the 10-year period still falls short of the new target of 200,000 flats; and second, subject to resolving many technical issues, local objections and necessary rezoning, there is still a shortfall of 38 hectares of land required to fulfill the target of 200,000 flats.

The DAC therefore pointed out that the increase in demand for public rental flats and the shortage in supply would have a negative impact on a related target of the government, which is to maintain the average waiting time for general housing applicants at around three years.

Provided that the DAC is right, the major flaw concerned is the implementation of public housing policy rather than the policy itself. The shortfall in the supply of public housing in the 10-year projection is a technical problem made by the relevant department. Obviously, it's nothing to do with Hong Kong's political system. The DAC recognizes: "To increase land supply for PRH, the government is exploring possible sources, such as reclamation, opening up new areas, and site redevelopment. However, the complicated process and lengthy time involved in planning and land development present many challenges." Even if the "many challenges" here also include political disputes, they cannot be overcome by universal suffrage. On the contrary, if universal suffrage is somehow reached on the current shaky ground of irreconcilable political rivalry, Hong Kong's administration will be in serious trouble.

The audit report is much more critical of the Mega Events Fund for overstating the turnout at its events and other "irregularities", including the event organizers' failure to show invoices for expenses. It is the fund's secretariat, consisting of staff members of the Tourism Commission, that should take major responsibility for exaggerating attendance figures at its events and the number of jobs it had created. The Tourism Commission was blamed for failing to set conditions in funding agreements to govern the distribution of tickets. Thus, the audit report sees an "urgent need" for the Tourism Commission to step up checks and control over the operation of events. In this respect the fund's problems are also unrelated to the political system. The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, under whose jurisdiction the Tourism Commission falls, has accepted the report's recommendations to improve the fund's management.

There are two kinds of power - political and administrative. A US president of many decades ago, Woodrow Wilson, and political scientist Frank Goodnow at times, advocated that "administration" should be properly separated from "politics". The political power has to restrict its control over the administration and the latter has to execute policies made by the former. Government efficiency can be ensured only when this principle is put into practice.

Today's Hong Kong is a shining example of steadfastly upholding the principle of political neutrality by public servants. The tradition can be traced well back to the colonial era and has changed only with the introduction of the "accountability system" into the HKSAR Government, which affects principal officials and their assistants only. The remaining 170,000 civil servants do their jobs on a daily basis in apolitical mode. Even as the society struggles in the grip of a politicizing frenzy right now, the administration is still, by and large, immune to politics. The problems revealed by the Audit Commission can be resolved by improving the execution of administrative chores.

It is an undeniable fact that the major challenges to the HKSAR are mostly political. Government policy-making process is under constant attack by the opposition camp. Since the current SAR government took office the opposition has been taking advantage of loopholes in legislative procedures to ambush the government with filibustering in the Legislative Council, costing the public billions of dollars as result of blocked funding bills and delayed implementation of policies.

In a sense the newly introduced "accountability system" is also responsible for increasing administrative difficulties by allowing politically motivated parties to target principal officials in their attempts to paralyze the government. The leadership team, whose members come from different backgrounds, seems unable to cope with the worsening political situation and make sound policies. These shortcomings cannot be overcome by universal suffrage, either. Rather, in all likelihood, they will be exacerbated immediately if universal suffrage is implemented today.

The author is a veteran current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 04/24/2014 page9)