CONFIDENTIAL
The
members should have a good record of public service. present group of 18 were appointed to serve for the term of this LegCo, ie until 1995, unless elections are held sooner. The Governor has powers under the Royal Instructions to revoke the appointment of Appointed Members with the approval of the Secretary of State, but this would be unusual in Hong Kong. There will be no Appointed or
ex-officio members in the 1995 LegCo.
4.
The Basic Law prescribes the make up of LegCo when it enters into force on 1 July 1997 as follows:
20 directly-elected members;
30 elected by functional constituencies;
10 elected by an "Election Committee".
5. The Basic Law also lays down that the number of
directly elected members will rise in the second term of the post-1997 LegCo to 24, and in the third term to 30.
6.
The Chinese have said that the Basic Law cannot be changed. In fact it would be possible (if the political will existed) for the National People's Congress to pass amendments to the Law. The Chinese might argue that these amendments would have to go through a process of consultation with representatives of Hong Kong opinion, in the same way as the draft of the Basic Law itself. At present they are resolutely opposed to any changes.
The following main issues arise in connection with the
7.
1995 elections.
(i)
8.
Directly Elected Seats
There is no precise way of measuring Hong Kong opinion. The liberals, who won 17 of the 18 seats in September 1991, all campaigned for more democracy. Their bids ranged from independents like Emily Lau who called for all LegCo seats to be directly elected in 1995, to the United Democrats · led by Martin Lee who have proposed that 30 of the 60
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CONFIDENTIAL