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MR SOHMEN:
Sir, when the next generation looks back
on this and our previous debates on constitutional reform, the
kindest comments that they might make is that we all tried to do
the best for Hong Kong. I doubt that we shall be complimented for
being bold, or imaginative, or particularly wise.
The White Paper,
in my view, is not really a way forward, only a step sideways into what I fear could be a blind alley. Of course, as a gradualist who has consistently argued for a cautious approach to progress on these
very complex and fundamental issues, I am pleased that any major changes to the political structure have been deferred at least until 1991. The desperate urgency suggested by some honourable members and by others in the community for changes within this year has always been a myth. So was and is their claim that the significant majority of the Hong Kong population is in favour of the introduction of direct elections to the legislature 1988. No amount of bickering 18 about the details of the Survey Office efforts and results, no local
and and international media campaigns, no speculation on the hypothetical outcome of a referendum can hide this basic fact. If proof was needed that the public at large in Hong Kong is not yet fully aware or convinced of the benefits of democratic participation in the political processes, the recent District Board elections should have provided it. To blame the disappointingly low voter turnouts on the publication of the White Paper is an ingenious but rather bizarre argument, even if the voting percentages had not simply confirmed the historic trend. If, as the proponents of the early introduction of direct elections claim, the people of Hong Kong were now so terribly anxious to have a chance to express the political will through universal suffrage, why did the voters not make use of this ready opportunity to demonstrate this desire convincingly once and for all? Especially since the debates on the Green and White Papers and the attendant publicity must have helped to raise political
consciousness.
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One can of course make facile distinctions between District