Translation
DRAFT SPEECH BY HON DESMOND LEE YU TAI
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 17.3–88-
White Paper: "The Development-of Representative Government : The Way Forward"
MR. DESMOND LEE (in Cantonese).
Sir,
The Development of
The title of the White Paper The Development of Representative Government: The Way Forward does not fit its
contents and is a deception in itself. The composition of the District Boards will remain unchanged, with appointed members
still taking up one+third of the seats. In the Municipal
Councils, the number of indirectly elected members will be
increased, bringing the percentage of directly elected members
per cint from 50% down to less than 40%, which is a retrogression.
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for the Legislative Council, the number of official members will remain the same while appointed members will be slightly reduced by 2 seats. All in all, these changes are but token gestures and do not bring about any real progress. therefore, would say that the White Paper published in February this year is in fact a stop sign to the development of representative government, and to call it The Way Forward is to follow an ostrich policy, deceiving oneself by "plugging one's ears when stealing a bell*. The Government has all along
attached much importance to the three-tier structure. But the White Paper goes against the will of the people in this respect. A few days ago, over 50 pistrict Board members jointly submitted a declaration to the OMELCO Complaints
Division, protesting against the Administration's decision not
to introduce direct elections in 1988 and to abolish the
pistrict Board Electoral College. The Urban Councillors are
opposed to the removal of their exfofficio seats in the District Boards and the introduction of indirectly
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