6
18.
RECOMMENDATION C.
This
REPLACE THE OMELCO IN-HOUSE MEETING. My proposals envisage that the main organisational and administrative structure will be regrouped around the Legislative Council under the direction of the President. raises questions about the future of OMELCO as a formally constituted body. Whatever arrangements are made, I see the need for a machinery which enables :-
a)
b)
c)
ExCo and LegCo non-government Members to caucus from time to time.
Provides ExCo Members who are not Members of the Administration with research and staff support.
Recognizes that the OMELCO System has served Hong Kong well. The "If it ain't bust don't mend it!", philosophy seems relevant here!
There may be a case therefore for continuing with a small umbrella organisation, in the name OMELCO, which
a)
b)
c)
provides a forum for ExCo-LegCo cooperation.
acts as the authority for drawing up the budget and submitting it to the Governor/Chief Executive of the
SAR.
is the employing authority for all non-government staff working for the two Councils.
d)
in due course provides the Secretariat of the Electoral College.
e)
provide the Secretariat for various bodies such as the Electoral Commission.
A central organ of this institution would be a management Committee, which would perform much the same functions as the present OMELCO House Committee. Its membership might include the Deputy President, the Senior Member of ExCo, the Senior Member of LegCo, the Senior official of LegCo, and representatives of the main groups in LegCo. This committee might meet in private and should be strictly non-partisan.
19.
RECOMMENDATION D. DEVISE & APPLY APPROPRIATE RULES OF PROCEDURE. One of the most difficult lessons for newly constituted Legislatures is that any decision-making body needs a set of rules, procedures and conventions, formal and informal, in order to function. The absence of such discipline leads to "absenteeism, horseplay and shenanigans" which renders "Congress a theatre of the absurd" as Robert Staffs put it in analysing the failures which lead to the Marcos Coup against the Philippine Legislature in 1972.