SECRET
ASSESSMENT OF PRESENT OPINION
THE GOVERNOR
6.
will
It was stated in the 1984 White Paper that the Governor
continue to be appointed formally by The Queen until
1997 and there was strong public support for
for this. The
White Paper said that any proposals for change in the
position and the role of the Governor would need to take
into account the provisions of the Joint Declaration and it
was stated that these important issues would be considered
at a later stage. There has been little comment in Hong Kong on the position of the Governor in general, except as President of the Legislative Council (see para 7 below), and
his position is not expected to be raised except in that
context.
THE GOVERNOR AS PRESIDENT OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
7.
It was originally proposed (in the Green Paper of July
1984) that the Governor should be replaced, in due course,
by a presiding officer elected by the unofficial members of
the Legislative Council from among their own number. Such a
change could be introduced progressively in two stages. For
example, the first
first presiding officer might be appointed by
the Governor after consultation with the unofficial members
of the Legislative Council, but thereafter the presiding
officer might be elected by the members of the Legislative
Council. In the White Paper it was noted that although the
proposal to replace the Governor as presiding officer was,
on the whole, reasonably well received the general view was
in favour of making no significant change in the immediate
future.
8. There is, however, a potential conflict, which has been
commented on in the Press, between the role of Governor as
Chief Executive and as President of the Council. As Chief
Executive he is
of the
responsible for the policies
SECRET