elected. Another one third will be nominated by the District Boards and the remainder will continue to be appointed.
District Boards were created in 1982. They are local consultative bodies without policy-making powers. One third of their members were elected by universal suffrage in 1982, and in 1985 this proportion was doubled. The remaining one third continue to be appointed. 477 candidates competed for 213 seats at the most recent elections in 1985 (another 24 were returned unopposed). Nearly half a million people voted, representing about 40% of the registered electorate.
The Hong Kong Government's Plans for Reform
The Hong Kong government claims to rule by consensus. Though there are few elected representatives at any level above District Board, and though civil servants or appointees are in the majority on every other committee, the administration claims to take careful account of public opinion when formulating policy.
This claim has been disputed in recent years, particularly by grassroots and community organisations. They have argued that the system has a natural bias in favour of those with property and a professional income who, traditionally, have enjoyed the vote and been invited to sit on consultative committees.
Since District Boards were set up and universal adult franchise introduced in 1982, the pace of political reform has increased, and it is widely accepted that the trend towards more elections and election to more responsible positions will continue. Particularly since the Anglo- Chinese Agreement was made public, discussion has rather focused on how far, and how fast, Hong Kong's political system should be made fully democratic.
In July 1984, the Hong Kong government released a Green Paper on representative government. This proposed the introduction of indirect elections to the Legislative Council by district board members and 'functional constituencies' but ruled out direct elections before 1991. In response to the Green Paper, ninety grassroots, community and political organisations publicly called for direct elections to at least one fifth of the Legislative Council by 1988. Under public pressure, the final proposals, published in a White Paper in November 1984, proposed the more rapid introduction of indirect election to a larger number of seats.
ʼn September 1985 24 out of 56 members of the Legislative Council w be indirectly elected. In addition to the 22 appointed unofficial
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members, and 10 civil servants, 12 members will be elected by members of the District Boards, Urban Council and Regional Council, and another 12 by 'functional constituencies'.
Functional constituencies are interest groups which have been identified by the Hong Kong government. At present nine have been given seats: commerce, industry and the labour unions (each granted two seats) and finance, social services, the medical, teaching and legal professions, and engineering (one seat each).
The new system will be reviewed in 1987.
Public Expectations of Democratic Reform
Whether the government's plans are adequate depends both on the Anglo-Chinese Agreement and also on the wishes of the local community. Annexe 1 of the Agreement, describing the establishment of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, stipulates that the chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR "shall be selected by election or through consultations held locally and be appointed by the Central People's Government (CPG). Principal officials (equivalent to secretaries) shall be nominated by the chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR and appointed by the Central People's Government. The legislature of the Hong Kong SAR shall be constituted by elections. The executive authorities shall abide by the law and shall be accountable to the legislature."
Although the Agreement remains ambiguous, especially about the exact mechanism of (s)election, it implies a higher level of popular participation in the political structure, compared with the present situation in which the Hong Kong government has, in effect, granted professional interests, bankers and businessmen a double vote, for members of District Boards and then again in the functional constituencies.
There are now clear signs, too, that political organisations are beginning to coalesce for the first time in the territory's history. The largest of these is the Progressive Hong Kong Society, led by Ms Maria Tam, which has the support of business interests but seeks also to create a base in grassroots and community organisations. Other groups like Meeting Point have a more coherent political programme, but are still limited in membership and resources, while the Hong Kong Affairs Society or the Hong Kong People's Association are more representative of middle class intellectual opinion. Two other groups are still newer. One has been formed, to promote business interests, by some 'unofficials' under the leadership of Allen Lee (who, like Maria Tam, is a member of
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