'Shake Up Cabinet To Restore Public Trust'

Pro-government lawmaker Paul Tse has called for an urgent reshuffle of the cabinet as a way to show that the administration is serious about restoring public support after weeks of discord over the extradition bill.

Tse declined to say which ministers should be fired or whether Chief Executive Carrie Lam should herself stand down after a series of mass protests which culminated in a group of demonstrators smashing their way into the Legislative Council complex on Monday.

"It is normal, common practice everywhere that whenever there are very important or significant events, or errors made by the government, they would normally do some reshuffling to make sure that people would accept that there is some sincere gesture ... so that people will ease off their anger."

Tse, who represents Kowloon East in Legco, acknowledged that a reshuffle of ministers or the Executive Council was unlikely to please everyone.

Protest groups have called for Lam to go, and there has also been criticism of ministers involved in pushing the now suspended extradition bill, which would have opened the way for fugitives to be sent to any jurisdiction, including the mainland.

Secretary for Security John Lee, and the justice chief, Teresa Cheng, are among those to receive criticism over the saga.

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