The Composition of the Legislative Council
23. The composition of the Legislative Council in 1985 and 1988 proposed in the Green Paper was as follows:
(a) Elected by electoral college
(b) Elected by functional constituencies (c) Appointed by the Governor
(d) Ollicial members
Total
1985
1988
6
12
6
12
23
16
13
10
48
50
24. As a result of the changes which have been made to the original proposals, the composition of the Council in 1985 will now be as set out below. The additional scats required to cater for the increase in elected membership have been partially offset by a small reduction in seats for Appointed and Official members.
!
(a) Elected by electoral college
(b) Elected by functional constituencies
(c) Appointed by the Governor
(d) Official members
1985
12
12
2200
10
with a view to deciding, in particular, the future position of appointed Unofficial members and other possible mixes of members elected by the elec- toral college and the functional constituencies. It was further stated that other types of electoral arrangements including the possibility of direct elections, might be considered in the review.
27. There was strong public support for the idea that there should be a review and that it should occur before 1989. It was argued that this should take place before the 1988 elections and the second phase of development. This would give an opportunity for further consultation about future development including such questions as the introduction of direct elections.
28. Since some of the Green Paper proposals concerning the composition of the Legislative Council have been brought forward from 1988 to 1985, it has been argued that the review should be held after 1988 in order to allow time for the new arrangements to settle down. On the other hand, there was strong public feeling that the timing of the review should be brought forward. There will also be a need to consider matters such as direct elections and other issues raised in the Green Paper and subsequently in public debate. After careful consideration the Government has decided to bring forward the review to 1987.
Total
56
Direct Elections
25. The relative merits of direct and indirect elections attracted considerable public interest and comment. However there was little evidence of support in public comment on the Green Paper for any move towards direct elections in 1985. With few exceptions the bulk of public response from all sources sug- gested a cautious approach with a gradual start by introducing a very small number of directly elected members in 1988 and building up to a significant number of directly elected members by 1997. Proposals that the Legislative Council's Unofficial members should all be returned by direct elections were in the minority. There was considerable general public concern that too rapid progress towards direct elections could place the future stability and prosperity of Hong Kong in jeopardy. In summary, there was strong public support for the idea of direct elections but little support for such elections in the immediate future.
The Review
26.
It was proposed in the Green Paper that a review should take place in 1989, after the second elections to the Legislative Council had been held in 1988,
8
a