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then we must take account of the provisions of the Basic Law which will come into operation in 1997. This envisages a gradual increase from the present level of 18 to 20 for the LegCo which makes the transition in 1997, rising to 24 at the 1999 elections.
We are publicly committed to pressing the Chinese for a more rapid build-up than this in the number of directly-elected seats. But there is no prospect of their agreeing to amend the Basic Law to this effect. The Governor's view is that we would have little support in Hong Kong if we were to lose the prospect of a LegCo through train by unilaterally increasing the number of directly-elected seats. He therefore recommends that we should carry out our commitment to raise the issue with the Chinese but be prepared to use it as a bargaining card in return for Chinese agreement on points which will be more attractive to Hong Kong.
There are other ways of rooting democracy firmly in Hong Kong, as the Joint Declaration intended it to be, without cutting across the provisions of the Basic Law. The Governor proposes that the "Election Committee" which will be responsible for electing 10 of the 60 members of the 1995 LegCo should itself be elected by the members of the District Boards. They will themselves all have been directly elected, as will the Urban and Regional Councils. He also proposes that the 9 new functional constituencies which will need to be created in 1995 should be based on a very broad franchise. As a result, by 1995 every level of administration up to and including LegCo will have been formed on the basis of broadly based, fair and open elections.
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There are strong arguments working within the terms of the Basic Law. But a great deal will hinge on the presentation of these proposals to three very different audiences: Hong Kong
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