(d) August/September 1989 for the Legislative Council (the two municipal council seats from the electoral college plus either the ten District Board seats from the electoral college or the 12 functional constituency seats).
If it were decided that a directly elected element should be introduced into the Legislative Council, it would be necessary to consider where the elections would best fit in.
Terms of Office
132. Another aspect of the existing pattern of elections which merits examina- tion is whether a three-year term of office is the most appropriate. Legislatures and similar bodies throughout the world have terms varying from two years to five years or more. The considerations appear to be:
(a) a longer period offers increased stability and continuity as those elected will have more time to settle into their new role and acquire experience;
(b) it would reduce the frequency of elections and the consequent possi- bility of a 'familiarity breeds contempt' attitude to voting. (There was some, albeit not much, criticism that three elections were held within a twelve-month period in 1985-86, even though the general electorate was involved in only two of the three elections); and
(c) it would give the electorate more opportunity to assess the per- formance of its representatives before considering their renewed candidature at a following election; but
(d) on the other hand, too long a term of office might discourage some potential candidates. It would also reduce the opportunity for the electorate to remove unsatisfactory performers.
133. It is for consideration whether the term of office of the District Boards, Municipal Councils and Legislative Council should remain at three years or be changed to, say, four years. Except for any once-only adjustment which may be made if the sequence of elections were to be changed (see paragraph 128 above), it is important that the terms of office of all these bodies should be of the same duration if they are not to get out of synchronization over time.
Age of Entitlement to Vote
134. The present age of entitlement to vote in Hong Kong is 21 years. There has been some discussion on whether this should be lowered in the light of the recommendation in the Law Reform Commission's report 'Young Persons- Effects of Age in Civil Law' that, in general, the age of full capacity should be lowered to 18 years.
135. The Commission itself, while stating that logically it saw no reason for an exception to its general recommendation to be made in the case of voting, took
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