Lawmakers on Tuesday offered high praise to Erick Tsang, who resigned as secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs citing health reasons.

Brave Chan, who chairs Legco's Constitutional Affairs Panel, described the former official as being a very hardworking person, adding that news of his deteriorating health came as a surprise.

"We only found out now that he has been enduring this round of highly intensive and heavy workload despite suffering from a serious illness. We observed that the entire Legislative Council election was relatively smooth and successful. In addition, the work undertaken by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau during this period was exceptionally extensive," he said.

"We all hope he will recover and get well soon."

Another panel member, Holden Chow, thanked Tsang for his contributions.

The DAB councillor believes his resignation will not affect the work of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, saying the government has a robust staffing system.

"On one hand, we respect Tsang's personal decision in leaving the government due to his health problem. And at the same time, I believe that a new secretary will take up the position soon, and I am sure that he [or she] will work closely with different stakeholders and even government officials on the mainland. Everything will happen as usual," Chow said.

"I am sure that somebody [who] would take up the new position would take up his work and would continue to work with the bureau authorities."

Lau Siu-kai, a consultant to the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said Tsang's resignation will have very little impact on the administration's operation.

He said he believes a successor has already been identified, adding that whoever takes the helm will have a lot of work to do in helping Hong Kong further integrate into the nation's policy framework.

Lau said the next minister must be trusted by both the central and SAR governments, have a comprehensive understanding of the nation's development trends and strategies, and have the ability to coordinate the work of different departments.