1 2 3 +
4
10
5
7
8
9
M10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
No 21
22
23
24
NÎ 25
26
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
NP 36
agree without hesitation or reservation that direct elections
should not be introduced this year, and I am happy to see that the views expressed in the White Paper are similar. //1991, to my mind, is the appropriate time to introduce direct elections to the Legislative Council, appropriate because by then our existing structure of representative government introduced in 1985 will have had sufficient time to be tested. Six years, I would say, is a reasonable duration to allow a new system to be adequately
screened and it would therefore be more sensible to make further changes to the system at that point in time. I also think 1991 is a suitable time for introducing direct elections because it is
my firm belief that any changes to a system as important and as vital as the political system should be evolutionary and gradual. This will not only eliminate the possibility of putting our system at risk, a risk we can hardly afford, but would also be consistent
which y
with the spirit of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which
places great emphasis on the continuity and the step-by-step
evolution of our political structure. This is important, as the
Government has to take full account of the provision) of the Joint Declaration in considering the next steps in the development of representative Government. The Chief Secretary in his speech on the White Paper delivered to this Council last month said, tand quote - "Many people in Hong Kong have a firm, real conviction that change in Hong Kong's political system should be evolutionary Sir, I cannot agree more with such a conviction. Furthermore, as I pointed out in my earlier speech in July, any attempt to introduce substantial innovations at this stage would almost certainly be interpreted as pre-empting the future Basic Law for Hong Kong: I believe that the people of Hong Kong would unanimously agree that it is of paramount importance to achieve a smooth transition in 1997 in order to maintain the prosperity and stability of the Territory. In so doing, it is essential to ensure that developments before 1997 are compatible with a framework to be established in the Basic Law which is due to be promulgated in 1990. It is therefore wise not to introduce major changes to the legislature this year. Turning to the number of directly-elected
*