SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret
Secret
DSR 11C (Revised 5/87)
geographical basis by an electoral college comprising all
members of the Urban and Regional Councils and District
Boards. The other 32 members of the Legislative Council
were either officials (10) or appointed members (22).
Confidential
Restricted
Unclassified
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
The Hong
31. The 1984 White Paper also considered the question
of direct elections to the Legislative Council.
Kong Government noted that although there was strong
public support for the idea of direct elections,
there was little support for such elections in the
immediate future. They undertook to hold a review in
1987, before the 1988 elections, to give an opportunity
for further consultation about the development of
representative government, including specifically the
introduction of direct elections.
32. The review duly took place in 1987 as promised.
The options were set out in a Green Paper "The 1987
Review of Developments in Representative Government"
published in May this year. It covered many aspects of
representative government, among them the question of
whether, and if so when, there should be a directly
elected element in the Legislative Council. A Survey
Office was set up to collect and report on public opinion
on the Green Paper. It operated outside the ordinary
machinery of government and without interference from the
Two independent monitors were appointed
administration.
to oversee its work and to ensure that the Office carried
out its duties in a fair and objective way. The Review
generated considerable public interest. The sounding of