PRESS RELEASE
October 7, 1998
Democrats Assail Tung's Failure to Lead; Call Tung Administration
"Anti-Democratic"
The Democratic Party called today's Policy Address by Chief Executive
C.H. Tung "a great disappointment." The Chief Executive, said
party chairman Martin Lee, "lacks leadership, and his speech lacked
direction." "Mr. Tung does not have his finger on the pulse
of the Hong Kong people." The Chief Executive, said Mr. Lee, "offered
nothing to alleviate the fears of the Hong Kong people concerning the loss
of jobs and cuts in wages."
Martin Lee also assailed the Tung administration's plan to replace the
majority-elected Municipal Councils with appointed government bureaus
as "a step backward" and "anti-democratic." "This
decision takes Hong Kong in the wrong direction and shows that Mr. Tung's
administration is completely out of step with the world-wide trend toward
democracy," said Martin Lee. Martin Lee cited the establishment of
the provisional legislative council, the amendment of civil liberties laws,
and the Tung administration's attempts to make the Legislative Council
even more of a rubber stamp.