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Executive. The idea would be for the Governor to delegate certain functions to a Proto-Chief Executive. Gradually more and more functions would be delegated or transferred, leaving the Governor the eve of 1997 with immediate responsibility only for a limited number of subjects such as defence, internal security, certain relations with the Chinese and other external affairs.
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There are a number of ways in which the establishment of such a position could be effected.
a) Internally from the Civil Service. The appointment of a senior and well respected Chinese civil servant (such as John Chan) would be acceptable to the civil service and could be acceptable to LegCo and the public. However the individual would clearly have effectively no chance of remaining in that position after 1997 and this could limit the field of candidates.
b) A suitable member of CAMELCO could be appointed by the Governor to the post. Again this would probably be acceptable to the civil service and to MELCO and possibly to the public. same drawback in a) above would apply.
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c) We could adopt a selection committee, on the same
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The arguments in favour of that promulgated in the Draft Basic Law
t this option are that the Chinese could not accuse of divergence from the Basic Law and that a person so selected should be acceptable to
The the civil service, MELCO and to the community at large. drawback that this person would be unlikely to be able to serve after 1997 would still remain.
If the main aim of this proposal is to get the civil service,
MELCO and the community at large to accept that the government is being run by someone other than the Governor, either . any of
I have some doubts about the these options would be acceptable.
wisdom of appointing someone outside MELCO or the civil service because that person would clearly wish to establish authority and might not be willing to work within the constraints of limited
One possibility delegation from the Governor, certainly initially.
would be for a Proto-Chief Executive from either the civil service
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