91'd
2.
i
radical
should attempt to make,
constitutional changes without clear community support. Controversial' changes need broad consensus to sustain them. Whichever way we analyse the results of the Survey Report, we cannot get away from the fact that public opinion on this issue was obviously split. And it is not a simple question
of
whether more people were for and less against but
whether the government could ignore the genuine reservations of so many in the
so many in the community who were against change in 1988.
4.
It is clearly right to introduce direct elections in 1991. I hope that those people
people who are presently disappointed by this historic proposal will take comfort
from the fact that they have won the point of principle that Hong Kong should have direct elections. I hope that they will now put aside their disappointment and
that we can move on together to make a success of direct elections in 1991, and the many other problems
problems that we
face in these years of transition.
5.
I Am not trying to diminish the importance of the debate over direct elections when I say that it is unfortunate that so much attention has been given to this
one issue. It has distracted too much attention from
other important matters. For instance, scant attent.
attention
has been given to the notable achievements of the Joint Liaison Group, which has made real progress on
progress on a number
of issues
-
!
CATT membership, travel and identity documents, air services negotiations, the Hong Kong shipping register, and so on. Nothing could be more important for Hong Kong
than co-operation between the parties to the Joint
Declaration on matters that are essential to our future
I autonomy and progress.
!
!
>H SI9 ST:21 88, 91 HW
1