Extract of 1988 White Paper:
The Development of
Government:
The Way Forward
:
Representative
Annex F
CHAPTER IV
COMPOSITION OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
31. As well as the question of direct elections, the Green Paper put forward a number of options for changes in 1988 to the numbers of Official. Appointed and Elected Members of the Council.
Public Response
32. These issues stimulated comments in over 42,300 submissions to the Survey Office, 108 public opinion surveys and one signature campaign. The general view was that there should be no major changes in the composition of the Legislative Council in 1988, but there were varying degrees of support for adjustments to the number of seats in one or more of the existing categories of membership. i
33. There was a substantial majority of views in favour of retaining the present number of Official Members, i.e. ten. Many people thought that a reduction would hamper efficiency.
34. Most submissions from individuals did not favour changing the number of Appointed Members in 1988. Many stressed the value of the wide range of experience that this group brought to the Council. However, another body of opinion, including most of the submissions from groups and associations, was in favour of reducing the number of Appointed Members.
35. In general the public response supported the concept of the functional constituency system and an increase in the number of Members elected in this way. There was a large response from groups and associations seeking representation, either for themselves or for bodies to which they are affiliated. 36. Many District Board members favoured an increase in the number of Members elected by the electoral college. A clear majority of submissions to the Survey Office, however, opposed changing either the number of electoral college constituencies or the number of Members elected by each constituency.
37. The Green Paper raised, as an issue for discussion in the longer term, a suggestion that a proportion of the members of the legislature might in future be elected by a new, broadly-based electoral college. Few submissions commented on this concept, but the public opinion surveys commissioned by the Survey Office showed that there was some interest in the community in considering the idea further.
Official and Appointed Members
38. It would be in line with the evolution of representative government gradually to reduce the proportion of Appointed Members, including appointed
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Annex F