direct or indirect elections
to
at
the central organs of government, and constituency based elections even regional and district level are a relatively new feature of political life in the territory,
ΟΙ
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It has also been suggested that directly elected members should be introduced, â few at a time, into the Council. Since it would not be possible to treat some parts of Hong Kong differently from the others in the matter of representation, members would have to be elected on the basis of either a single list constituencies covering the whole of the territory. In the latter case, if there were only a few members in the initial stages, their constituencies would have to be very large indeed. Such a system would therefore not only YUD the risk of introducing direct elections prematurely, but would do SO on the basis of constituencies so large that the ability of one member to represent them would be called seriously into question.
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Thus it is considered that the introduction of direct elections to the Legislative Council would not be appropriate at the present time, although in due course as the political and constitutional circumstances of Hong Kong evolve, further thought will be given to this possibility, if popular support for the idea develops.
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Even the introduction of a system under which a substantial number of Unofficial members are elected indirectly by an electoral college and by functional constituencies will be a major change in the system of government in Hong Kong. It will take time for people to become familiar with this new system and to develop experience in its operation, It is for this reason that it is proposed to introduce the new system progressively.
In the light of Hong Kong's special circumstances, the system now proposed should meet the objectives set out in paragraph 7 above of rooting the authority of
government firmly in the community, of providing a channel for
channel for the authoritative expression of the views of the people, and of making the government more directly accountable to the people of Hong Kong.
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