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should be evolved. It is because of this and not
because of some structural flaw in our system of
government or in its performance that few now disagree that an element of direct elections should be introduced to our legislature. The timing of the introduction
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of direct elections, however, has been debated again
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and again both inside and outside of this Chamber.
This introduction of
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In particular, the call for direct elections in 1988
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has been the rallying cry of some members of our society. This single issue has tended to overshadow other more
fundamental issues concerning our future system of
government. Whichever way one argues, opinions on
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it can only be described as divided. Both the proponents and the opponents to direct elections in 1988 have informed us of their views. Both deserve to be heard
in a dispassionate and objective manner, for we must
assume that both have the interests of Hong Kong at
heart.
the introduction of Some of those who propose direct elections in 1988 argued that it was what the majority of people wanted. As the results of the opinion surveys showed the contrary, they questioned the manner in
which the opinion polls were conducted; that either
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be introduced.
of the White Paper, that if no direct elections were
introduced in 1988, then direct elections would never
Some feared that if direct elections
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it was so incompetently carried out that it was misleading or, it was suggested by some, that improper manipulations had been engineered in the process that the results
were a mockery of the declared intentions. In so arguing, they of course assumed that the conclusions in the White Paper were solely or largely based on
those particular opinion polls.
Some argued, before the publication
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