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Opinions among Legislative Councillors, Municipal Councillors and District Board members differed widely.
5.
Taken as a whole, the public response to the Green Paper showed that there is wide support among the people of Hong Kong for the principle of introducing directly elected Members into the Legislative Council, but that the community is divided over the timing of this move.
6.
Opinions on how
direct direct elections might be Those who organized were few and also divided. commented were on balance in favour of having several constituencies rather than a single territory-wide constituency. They also showed a slight preference for
elections in addition to, having direct
rather
than instead of, the present system of indirect elections by an electoral college.
Stability and Transition
7.
Stable government has always been crucial to Hong Kong. It will remain crucial in the years leading up to 1997 and beyond. Stability is essential for confidence in the government and in the future of the territory, as well as for overseas business confidence in Hong Kong. This important point has always been well recognized by the community.
8.
The maintenance of stability requires that the development of Hong Kong's
of Hong Kong's system of representative government should continue to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary; that each step should be carefully considered; and that changes should command wide support and confidence in the community.
9.
Such evolution must also be compatible with a There will be smooth transfer of government in 1997. inevitable changes at that time. The interests of the community will be best served if there is also a high degree of continuity and the form of government is one with which the
the people of Hong Kong are already familiar. In considering the development of Hong Kong's system of representative government before 1997, account must therefore 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 connexion, 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.
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