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purposes.
It would
therefore
be
preferable to devolve powers.
would seem less recoverable.
But this
resentationally they
arrangement would still leave ultimate authority with the Governor, as the representative of HMG, and allow for the resumption of power
by him in the event of a crisis.
(ii) The Extent of the Delegation of Powers
powers
7. The main paper notes (para 4) that the present powers of the
Governor and the future powers of the Chief Executive under the
Joint Declaration will not be identical.
It would seem most
practicable if the Chief Executive (Designate) was endowed with his
on a progressive basis. This would mean that there was no
abrupt change, and that he could be given time to
to establish his
position. The objective would be to ensure
ensure that he was exercising
all the powers of the office of Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR
by the time that office came into existence on 1 July 1997. A progressive devolution on these lines would substantially improve
the prospects of
of government in conditions of stability. Up to 30 June 1997, as discussed above, HMG would retain
the ultimate authority. After 1 July 1997 the Hong Kong SAR would enjoy the autonomy defined in the Joint Declaration.
transfer a
8.
All the powers now the responsibility of the Governor which would not be exercised by the Chief Executive after 1997 would be retained by the Governor until 1997. The Governor's position would in some respects be similar to that of a Governor in the last (fully internally self-governing) phase before independence of a colony: he would remain responsible for defence and foreign affairs, and in the
last resort for security, but day-to-day
but day-to-day internal administration
would be in the hands of the local government. After 30 June 1997
of the Governor's powers (eg in the areas of defence and foreign relations) would pass to the Central People's Government: others (eg the powers of disallowance and the power to override the actions of the Chief Executive on the instructions of HMG) would
end.
some
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