system to be used for elections after 1997 is clarified by the Basic Law. Others, however, have argued that, if a stable system of representative government is to continue to develop, and if the momentum of such continued development is not be lost, then a small proportion of directly elected Members should be introduced into the Legislative Council in 1988. Only a very few have suggested that there should be a rapid move towards having a substantial proportion of Legislative Council Members directly elected. Rather, there has been a wide measure of agreement on the importance of maintaining a carefully considered approach.
106. Methods of election. There has also been discussion as to whether, if there were to be direct elections, they should be conducted through a single territory- wide constituency, a small number of large geographical constituencies, or a larger number of smaller geographical constituencies. A single territory-wide constituency would require that candidates have substantial financial resources and organizational support in order to reach out to all voters. On the other hand, to conduct direct elections through geographical constituencies would introduce a second system of geographical representation alongside the existing electoral college. This could invite comparison between the representative status of directly elected Members and Members elected by the electoral college, and throw into question whether the two categories should co-exist, although it could be argued that different forms of election might produce different types of candidate.
Options for 1988
107. In the light of the above considerations, there is a range of possible conclusions on the question of whether there should be an element of directly elected Members in the Legislative Council. They are:
(i) that direct elections to the Legislative Council are not desirable;
(ii) that in principle some element of direct elections is desirable, but that
it should not be introduced in 1988;
(iii) that a directly elected element should be introduced in 1988, in addition to the existing categories of Members, through either a single territory-wide constituency or a number of geographically- based constituencies;
(iv) that there should be an element of directly elected Members in 1988 as in option (iii), but that they should replace those Members elected by the geographical constituencies of the electoral college.
A new electoral college
108. Another idea that has been put forward in connection with the drafting of the Basic Law is that, in the longer term, a proportion of the members of the legislature might be elected by a new, broadly-based electoral college. It has been suggested that this might consist of several hundred persons drawn
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