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the candidate identified in 1992 to be re-confirmed in office, if he
on the job, or alternatively
had demonstrated his ability to
replaced by a more suitable candidate.
B.
3.
The Position of the Post in the Hong Kong Government
should be
Executive
It is proposed that the post of Deputy Governor
created as the eventual position for the Chief
(Designate). He would fit in the Hong Kong Government hierarchy
between the Governor and the Chief Secretary. His post would be a
temporary additional one, created for political rather than strictly organisational purposes. The next echelon of posts in the Hong Kong
Government, those of the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary, and
would continue essentially unchanged both before
Attorney General,
and after 1997.
The Powers of the Chief Executive
C.
4.
It would be necessary to define most carefully the powers of the
Deputy Governor/Chief Executive (Designate), and to ensure that he
was fully aware of the powers exercisable by the Governor.
5.
(i) Delegation or Devolution of Powers
Power could be vested in the Deputy Governor/Chief Executive
(Designate) by delegation or by devolution. Delegation would
involve the allocation of powers with the right to withdraw them at any time.
The basic instruments under which power was conferred on
the Governor would not be amended. Devolution would involve a more
substantive transfer of powers, probably by the Letters Patent which
would have to be further amended for the Governor to resume those
powers.
6.
Under the Joint Declaration HMG will be responsible for the
administration of Hong Kong until 30 June 1997. HMG must retain the means to exercise that responsibility. The Chinese, and many people
in Hong Kong, would no doubt expect that of us. At the same time we
want to do all we can, within that framework, to establish the
autonomy
of the Chief Executive (Designate) for
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all practical