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they have confidence.
In considering the development of Hong Kong's
system of representative government before 1997, account must be
taken of the relevant stipulations of the Sino-British Joint
Declaration and the deliberations of the Basic Law Drafting
Committee over how those provisions should be implemented after
1997. In this connection the government has taken note of the fact
that all the options in the latest draft of the Basic Law concerning
the election of the future legislature include an element of direct
elections.
Introduction of Direct Elections
The government has concluded that the introduction of a number
of directly elected members into the Legislative Council before 1997
would be a logical and desirable further step in the development of
Hong Kong's system of representative government. It would be
welcomed by the community and would be conducive to the maintenance
of stability.
The government has further concluded that it would not be
right to make this major constitutional change in 1988, given that
opinions in the community on this point are so divided. The argument that the Legislative Council should continue for one more
term with its present forms of membership, rather than undergo a second restructuring in three years, is strong. At the same time,
there are good reasons for leaving sufficient time before 1997 for
the new form of election to become firmly established. The
government has therefore decided to introduce directly elected
members into the Legislative Council in 1991.
The government considers that direct elections should be on
the basis of single-seat geographical constituencies. It does not
believe that indirectly elected members representing geographical
constituencies should in these circumstances be retained. It is
difficult to see any advantage in having two parallel systems of
geographical representation in the Legislative Council, directly and
through District Boards. To have both would substantially increase
the size of the Legislative Council and upset its overall balance.
The Government has therefore decided to introduce ten directly
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