After being transferred out of the Police Force, Lok Ming-wah naturally no longer had the authority to form a Selection Board for internal police promotions.
The Administration Department's Security Branch nominally oversaw all of Hong Kong Island's Disciplined Services.
In practice, however, it had no way to intervene in internal police promotions.
If the Police Force Number One was assertive enough, he did not even need to take the Security Branch's views into account.
That had been true before Hong Kong Island's handover, and it remained true now.
Of course, once the Security Branch was upgraded to the Security Bureau, the Police Force Number One would certainly have to show its secretary some respect.
But as it stood, the Security Branch clearly had no authority to interfere in the Police Force's internal affairs.
Still, Lok Ming-wah held considerable influence within the Police Force's Personnel Department.
If he wanted to support Lau Kit-fai, he could do so without any difficulty, even after leaving the Police Force.
Thus, once the adjustments at the Police Force Senior Superintendent level were finalized, agreement between Zhou Quan, Lok Ming-wah, and Lau Kit-fai would be enough to decide who filled the two vacant Senior Superintendent posts in the Security Department.
After all, Zhou Quan had the support of three members of the Police Force core management, including Number One.
Really, it was only because Number One had already personally selected Zhou Quan to command the entire Security Department that it would be inappropriate for him to meddle further in the appointments of two mere Senior Superintendents.
To the man who ran the entire Police Force, Senior Superintendents could indeed be described as "mere."
After all, Number One had already given Zhou Quan tremendous support, and he could not favor him too heavily.
Otherwise, the other bigwigs