CONFIDENTIAL
Blue Volume XXXXXIII(5)
XCX(92)63
(iii) abolition of appointed membership in District
Boards and Municipal Councils; and
(iv) increase in elected membership in District Boards
and Municipal Councils.
It will also include consequential amendments to the Urban Council Ordinance, the Regional Council Ordinance, and the District Boards Ordinance.
(c) The Legislative Council (Electoral Provisions)
(Amendment) Bill
This Bill will deal with the following Legislative Council related proposals -
(i) creation of an Election Committee;
(ii) changes to some of the existing functional
constituencies; and
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(iii) creation of the nine new functional constituencies.
We have looked into the possibility of putting all seven proposals in one omnibus bill so that the proposals will stand or fall as a whole. This might lead to the Legislative Council having to make an early decision on the entire package including the more controversial elements. The downside of this approach is that if Legislative Council Members get engaged in protracted deliberations over the more contentious clauses of the bill, which is likely to be the case, this will hold up the entire legislative programme. Also, an omnibus bill would mean that the bill will ostensibly be for the creation of the Boundary and Election Commission, with all the other proposals (e.g. Election Committee) being provided for under the guise of consequential amendments. This would be odd and inappropriate bearing in mind that the various proposals all involve major constitutional changes.
Executive Council