| CONFIDENTIAL
17.
The question of the possible conflict between the roles of
the Governor as head of the executive and as president of the Legislative Council is being actively debated in the media and by
academics and political commentators. It is doubtful whether the
issues involved are widely understood within the community. If the
present position is to be changed, it will be necessary to consider
carefully how to allocate the powers now exercised by the Governor
as president, which include powers exercised in the British
Parliament by the speaker, the Government
the Government of the day and the Houses
of Parliament themselves.
18.
There is no evidence that public interest in changes to the
composition of
of the Executive Council is any greater than
than in 1984.
If anything, there seems to be a greater recognition of the need to
maintain a strong executive capable of providing firm leadership and
efficient administration.
The Problem of Compatibility
19.
The Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong and its
first Annex contain a number of general provisions about the
structure and operation of the future SAR government. Those most
relevant to the present paper are that the SAR's legislature will be
composed of local inhabitants and constituted by elections. (The
form of election is not stated.) The Joint Declaration also provides
that the policies which it
it states will be stipulated in the Basic
Law of the Hong Kong SAR.
20.
established a
The drafting of the Basic Law is now under way. Formally
speaking this is a matter for the Chinese Government. They have
Basic Law Drafting Committee (BLDC)
(BLDC) (including Hong
Kong members representing a broad spectrum of views) which has in
turn created sub-groups to study certain aspects of the draft law.
The Chinese have also set up a Basic Law Consultative Committee
(BLCC) in Hong Kong to reflect Hong Kong opinion to the BLDC.
21.
If we are to achieve a smooth transfer of government in 1997, as the Joint Declaration commits us to do, it is clear that
CONFIDENTIAL
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