CHIEF SECRETARY : Sir, I am grateful to Mr. WONG for his
support of this motion.
Mr. WONG 's first point is that the dissolution
The dissolution this year
should be as short as possible.
will be as short as possible consistent with the existing
law and the constraints of the timetable for elections.
However, Sir, the Administration will look at these
arrangements to see whether further
further reductions could be
made in future years.
Mr. WONG 's second point is
that the President
should exercise his powers to appoint another Member to
preside in his absence as often as possible. Mr. WONG has Pe
also suggested that this Member
should not be an
Official. Sir, paragraph 60 of the White Paper on the
the Way Forward
Development of Representative Government:
states 'When the Governor cannot attend the Council, a
Member appointed by him, or the Senior Official Member
present, will preside in his place.' The Governor has
already used the power on a number of occasions, will no doubt continue to do so. The power does,of course,
rse enable
the Governor to appoint a Member other than an Official
Member.
se