G.F. 316
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Note 1
Method of selection
states:
The Chief Executive
Section I of Annex I to the Joint
Declaration
"The chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be selected by election or through consultations held locally and be appointed by the Central People's Government".
2.
Paper II of May 1986 methods of selecting the Chief publicly discussed in Hong Kong.
3.
(a) by contested direct qualified candidates universal suffrage;
(b)
(c)
referred to three possible Executive which had been These were:
election among all on the basis of
by election among members of the legislature, if necessary after consultation among
among them, on a short list of eligible candidates from within or outside the legislature;
by consultation, followed if necessary by election, in some wider electoral college to provide a broader basis for the election.
It concluded that option (a) would be unlikely to find favour in Hong Kong, at its present stage of development, as it would be regarded as a major and fundamental change too likely
likely to lead to highly charged adversarial politics and thus instability. A further point is that selection by a process of contested direct election would tend to favour the high-profile politician rather than, for example, a less well-known but nevertheless able administrator.
4.
As regards option (b) Paper II of May 1986 concluded that such a method would be easily understood and would confirm that the Chief Executive enjoyed the confidence of the legislature. Such а system would, however, place considerable power in the hands of the legislature and might unduly alter the
the balance between it and the executive.
5.
As regards option (c) Paper II of May 1986 pointed out that it would require the creation of a new body, for which there is no equivalent in Hong Kong's present system of government. If, however, there were general support for the creation of a broadly based "grand electoral college", option (c) might be
might be the most preferable because
because it would ensure that the Chief Executive was selected after careful consideration of the merits of different candidates and that he enjoyed the confidence and support of a broad sector of the community.
/cont'd....
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