the
And as far as I could judge as a layman the technical aspects of
project were impressive; the various elements fit well together and a number of aspects eg new road and rail links
should provide considerable spin off for the general economic development of HK.
Impact of direct elections
20. Although I was not able to explore the subject as fully as I hoped I did talk to a number of people, including one of the new
directly elected members of LEGCO, about the way the legislative
arrangements were working. I found there was considerable
frustration felt by most of those within the HKG about the extra
burdens and
imposed on their work. This was rather
reminiscent of the negative reactions within the UK civil service
when the Select Committee system was developing in the 1980s.
delays
21. Certainly as both LEGCO and the official machine test each
other out a considerable amount of extra work is falling on the
Government's side. But the great bulk of business and legislation
is being successfully got through. And there were some within HKG to whom I spoke who saw positive aspects from the more questioning LEGCO approach.
22.
On the LEGCO side there was also frustrations with the new
directly elected members feeling they had no real handle on Government business, for example with very little power for the
Standing Committees. But the main thing that struck me about
LEGCO was that the more aggressive criticisms of the new members
was causing the older established members
many of whom were instinctive
the supporters of
to adopt a more critical approach themselves. So for the first time the absence of any
official
HKG
-
"Government Party" within LEGCO was becoming very
evident. There seems no doubt this is making
life for HKG
more
challenging.
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