HONG KONG -- Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa will unveil his new team of 14 "cabinet ministers" on Monday in the most sweeping change to the system of governance since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule.

Personally picked by Tung, the 14 will assume key portfolios and run the 180,000-strong civil service, make policy and be accountable only to Tung, who is not popularly elected and who owes his position to strong backing from Chinese leaders, Reuters reported.

Critics say the new system will only increase Tung's power and ultimately spells more control for Beijing over Hong Kong, which was promised a high level of autonomy under Chinese rule.

Tung will meet the media with his 14 aides, some of whom are expected to come from the private sector, at 1130 A.M.

(0330 GMT), the Hong Kong government said in a statement late on Saturday.

They will take up their new jobs from July 1, the day that Tung begins his second five-year term.

The 14 ministers can only be fired by Tung and the leader argues that would make his administration more accountable.

Top civil servants now are insulated from any fallout from poor policy decisions. They can only be sacked in the most extreme circumstances, for instance, a criminal conviction.

But critics question if there can be any real accountability in the new system when neither Tung nor the 14 were popularly elected.