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A substantial number of suggestions have been made that Unofficial members of the Executive Counil should be given more power and authority to control and supervise the policies and operations of the Government, through some form of ministerial system. It has been argued that unless this is done it will not be possible to achieve a truly autonomous, authoritative and accountable system of representative government in Hong Kong before 1997.
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The introduction of a ministerial system is a natural step in the development of an autonomous system of government, but there are certain implications which will have to be considered very carefully. In particular, the timing
the timing of the introduction of such a system will be very important. A point that should not be overlooked is that a Minister's job is virtually full-time and it would not be possible in future rely on the good-will of Members' employers, as at present, underwrite their availability as Ministers.
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to
to
The Green Paper stated, however, that developments towards the creation of a ministerial system might be considered at a later stage,
a later stage, after the proposed new system of selection of Unofficial members of the Executive and Legislative Councils had been implemented and allowed to settle down. It is intended to re-iterate this view in the White Paper and to say that the matter will be considered further in the review in 1987.
C THE GOVERNOR
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in
Only one proposal was made in the Green Paper with regard to the Governor's position, namely, that in due
in due course he should be replaced as President of the Legislative Council by a Presiding Officer elected by the Unofficial members of the Legislative Council from among their own number. It was explained that the questions of the Governor's powers respect of the Executive Council and the future method of selecting candidates for appointment as Governor would need to be considered carefully at a later
a later stage. It was also stated that the Governor would continue to be appointed formally by the Queen until 1997, and this has received strong support.
CONFIDENTIAL