SECRET
потокова глени
Mr Leeke HKD
FROM:
Paul Fifoot
DATE:
14 August 1987
се
le 1912
67
STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT:
1.
GRAND ELECTORAL COLLEGE
I agree with your telno 2159. The Chinese have enough to go on with Trilogy IV and it is quite clear from the discus- sions at Guangzhou that they are still struggling with the interrelationship between the Chief Executive and the legislature. Until we get some idea of how their minds are working, a further paper based on the assumptions in Trilogy IV is unlikely to carry Hong Kong's objectives further.
2.
There is, however, one particular aspect of the Grand Electoral College paper where we should ask Hong Kong to think further. This relates to para 7 (B) of Hong Kong telno 3014 and concerns the "election" of the Chief Executive's candidates to the legislature. Hong Kong have expressed the view that there must be a real election in respect of this category of members of the legislature and they underline that proposition in telno 3014 by stating that "the elections [must be] seen to be based on genuine and impartial consideration of the merits of competing candidates".
3. We have earlier criticised this idea, though without going into detail on our reasons.
4.
Hong Kong starts from the assumption that JD.49 requires everybody in the legislature to be elected and from that assumption concludes that the elections must be genuine. I do not necessarily question the assumption but I wonder whether it is necessary to go along with the conclusion. If a genuine election is inappropriate for Secretary-type officials, then do we have to baulk at a mere device of a election to satisfy JD.49?
5.
The purpose of having Secretary-type officials in Legco is to conduct Government business and answer criticisms of Govern- ment. An incoming Chief Executive will have available a limited number of Secretary-type officials for this function and will no doubt have his preferences for whom he wants in each post and which of those posts should be represented in the legislature. It may well be that there are two candidates for each post who are equally acceptable to him and, as between those posts which he would like to see represented in the legislature,he is in- different as to which candidate is chosen. However, in a free- for-all election (by a General Electoral College) of the official candidates, there could be no guarantee that the electors would ensure that they chose one of the alternates for each post. In a field of 20 candidates for 10 posts they could, for example, fail to elect either of the Chief Executive's candidates for Secretary- General, Financial Secretary or Attorney-General.
SECRET
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