UMELCO RESTRICTED
DRAFT SPEECH BY HON PETER POON, MBE, JP ON UNOFFICIAL MEMBER'S MOTION LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 2.8.84
Sir,
In considering Government's plan in the Green Paper on
the further development of represntative Government in Hong Kong,
four questions should be asked: (1) Is it basically sound? (2)
Is it suitable for Hong Kong? (3) Will it work? and (4) Can it
be improved?
Firstly, is it sound? The proposals are prepared on the
evolution of the existing framework of Government, namely, the
Governor, the Executive Council and the Legislative Council.
Though we do not have a democratic Government, our present system
is based on an efficient civil service, the rule of law and
Government by consensus. This has served us well as evidenced by
the stability and the tremendous economic growth in Hong Kong.
Times have changed and we must move towards a more democratic
form of Government in future. The question is how far and how
quickly we should proceed. The various proposals in the Green
Paper are progressive and aim at maintaining continuity with the least disturbance of the machinery of Government. Though there
are areas which receive a lot of comments and criticisms, the
philosophies and principles of such plan are basically sound.
took the UK and USA more than one hundred years to develop their
respective modern democratic electoral systems. Therefore a
cautious and gradual approach is desirable for Hong Kong.
It
Secondly, is it suitable for Hong Kong? Hong Kong is
now the third largest international financial centre. It is so
because of the hard work of the local people, the resourcefulness
and ingenuity of the entrepreneurs and the confidence of our
overseas investors in our stability. If there are drastic
changes in the form of Government, people will not be sure of
what to expect, e.g. in Government's financial, taxation, land,
labour and social policies. Investors, here and overseas,
especially in the present circumstances, need to know such
UMELCO RESTRICTED