Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has revealed his administration’s final report.
He was speaking ahead of his team’s final Executive Council meeting on Tuesday. Leung’s tenure is set to end on June 30.
“I had quite a deep feeling when I compiled this report. The work of all aspects in the past five years was not easy, the workload was heavy – to achieve this progress and results over the past five years, I have to thank my political appointee team, [and] the vast number of civil servant colleagues,” he said.
“Over the past five years, the Executive Council had more meetings because we shortened the summer break to just two, three weeks. On average, we had 45 meetings every year,” he said.
“I feel the whole of the government put in a lot of effort to do something for society over the past five years. I urge the public and the media to read it and give their opinion.”
He also thanked the media for covering the Executive Council, saying that his government provided a better reporting environment for journalists as they were allowed to wait for him inside the chief executive office building, unlike the previous administrations.
In fact, Leung has stood his ground on barring all digital media outlets from government events and press conferences, as Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices.
Last minute push
During the final weeks of Leung’s term, he tried to push through plans on overtime pay and the cancellation of offsetting mechanism of the mandatory provident fund – two labour policies mentioned in his 2012 manifesto.
But both proposals put forward by the government were rejected by labour unions and employers.
See also: 11 Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers invited to Handover banquet with China Pres. Xi Jinping
During the press conference, Leung refused to comment four times when asked by reporters how 11 pro-democracy lawmakers selected to join a banquet with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping were chosen.
A poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Programme said Leung’s ratings currently stand at 37.6 out of 100 – below the popularity “warning line” of 45.
