2.
set at 25. Other proposals call for a minimum voting age of 18 and
for provision of executive powers and unofficial chairmen for the new
District Boards.
A
6. The elected Urban Councillors do not like these proposals.
majority would prefer the age limit for voters to be 18 not 21. They
favour an age limit of 25 with 7 years' residence in Hong Kong for all
candidates for election. They unanimously oppose election to the
Council from constituencies preferring the present territory-wide
elections.
They want elections to District Boards in the Urban Area
and to keep the number of appointed members of the Council to 12, thus
giving the elected members a majority of 3. They have also asked that
the Council be consulted on various matters such as housing, transport,
education, medical health and social welfare services.
7. This matter has attracted considerable Parliamentary interest and
154 MPs signed an Early Day Motion on Democracy in Hong Kong last year.
Questions on the Green Paper proposals have been asked in the House of
Commons and the House of Lords. Mr Blaker welcomed them in a statement
in the House of Commons and copies of the Paper and summaries of the
proposals were placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Hong Kong and General Department
September 1980