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1
-NAL
PMENT IN HONG ENG
with your permission, Mr Speaker, I should like to make
agtatamant about constitutional development in Hong
Kong.
When I came back from Hong Keng on 17 January, I told
the House that I hoped to be able to announce
decision on the introduction of direct elections to the
Hong Kong legislature in 1991 in a matter of weeks.
In
view of intense press speculation in the last few days,
I have decided to make the announcement now.
At the time of the signing of the Joint Declaration in
1984, there was no elected element of any kind in the
legislatura. In February 1988, the Hong Kong
Government announced that 10 directly elected saats
would be introduced in 1991. It has been clear for
some time that the people of Hong Kong want to see a
mora rapid rate of progress. The question we have had
to decide is what new starting point would be right: