9
1
The Review
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It was proposed in the Green Paper that a review should take place in 1989, after the second elections to the Legislative Council had been held in 1988,
in 1988, with a view to deciding, in particular, the future position of
of appointed Unofficial members and other possible mixes of members elected by the electoral college and the functional constituencies. It was further stated that other types of electoral arrangements including the possibility of direct elections, might considered in the review.
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be
There was strong public support for the idea that there should be a review and that it should occur before 1989. It was argued that this should take place before the 1988 elections and the second phase of development. an opportunity for further consultation development including such questions as the direct elections.
This would give about future introduction of
[30A] In the light of this strong public feeling on the timing of the review and bearing in mind the revised composition of the Legislative Council in 1985 described in paragraph 27 of this White Paper, which amounts to bringing forward some of the original proposals for 1988 to 1985, the Government has decided to bring forward the review to 1987.
OR
[30B] Clearly it will
it will be necessary to consider eventually what further developments may be required during the 1990's on the basis of an assessment of what has been achieved beforehand. However, it is felt
it is felt that the revised composition of the Legislative Council should be allowed to settle down and develop properly before a major review is undertaken. therefore intended that a review will be undertaken appropriate time in the future which will be decided in due
course.
It is
at an
Direct Elections
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The relative merits of direct and indirect elections attracted considerable public interest and comment. However there was little evidence of support in public comment on the Green Paper for any move towards direct elections in
in 1985. With few exceptions the bulk of public response from all sources suggested a
suggested a cautious
cautious approach with a gradual start by introducing a very small number of directly elected members in 1988 and
and building up to
to a significant number
number of directly elected members by 1997. Proposals that the Legislative Council's Unofficial Members should all be
Members should all be returned
returned by direct elections were in the minority. There was considerable general public concern that too rapid progress towards direct elections