The Emergence of Constitutional Conventions in the Hong Kong Specail Administrative Region

While constitutional conventions were relatively insignificant in Hong Kong under British rule, they are shaping the post-colonial political system. Some relatively old practices have continued to be adopted by political actors since the retrocession. A few practices have been revised. It remains to be seen whether these practices will develop into conventions. The Rosanna Wong resignation served as a precedent that had the potential to become a convention. The car scandal of Antony Leung shows that neither the Chief Executive nor Beijing was initially prepared to accept ministerial resignation. However, the debacle over Article 23 of the Basic Law and the mass protests of 1 July 2003 constituted a political earthquake necessitating political transformations. The Chief Executive and Beijing had to accept Leung's and Regina Ip's resignations. Leung's resignation was a turning point in the development of the constitutional convention of ministerial resignation. It followed the precedent of Rosanna Wong and demonstrated the principal official's belief that resignation was morally obligatory and constitutionally justifiable. Public criticisms of Yeoh Eng-kiong's handling of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) became a critical factor leading to his eventual resignation, thus entrenching the convention of ministerial resignation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). While the impact of the resignation of Lam Woon-kwong on the development of practice remains to be observed, the resignation of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has perhaps revealed a number of important practices with regard to the relationship between the HKSAR and the central government in Beijing.

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