at the end of that period. Both men and women will be eligible for election to the council; the minimum age for a councillor will be 25. The council will be presided over by a Chairman who will be elected by members of the council: the vice-chairman also will be elected from among the members of the council.
The franchise will not extend below the age of 25 years. Both men and women will be eligible to vote in Municipal Council elections. Only persons capable of reading and writing either English or Chinese will be eligible for the vote. British nationality is not a requirement. With regard to residential qualification British subjects will require to have not less than one year's residence in the Colony since attaining the age of 23, while the qualification for persons of all other nationalities will be six years residence in the Colony out of the preceding ten years. Only persons qualified by virtue of jury service or by a property qualification will be entitled to exercise the vote. In connection with the residential qualification, special provision is made that any period of absence from the Colony during the years 1942 to 1945 may be reckoned as a period of residence in the Colony, provided that the claimant can show that he was resident in the Colony for a total period of four years between 1936 and 1941 and one year since August, 1945.
For the Chinese electorate, there are to be six wards on the Island and four on the mainland, the boundaries of which will be so fixed as to ensure, as nearly as possible, a representa- tion proportionate to the population of the respective wards. For the non-Chinese electorate there will be
be one single constituency with ten seats. Provision for the representation of the Indian and Portuguese communities in the Colony is made by an arrangement whereby if no Portuguese or Indian candidate receives a sufficient number of votes to bring him within the ten candidates at the head of the poll, then the Portuguese and Indian Candidates who secure the majority of votes cast for Portuguese and Indian candidates are to be declared as elected and will displace from the ten persons at the head of the poll, the two obtaining the least number of votes.
Councillors will be nominated by recognised unofficial bodies as follows:
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce The recognised Trade Unions
University of Hong Kong
1 Chinese
2 Chinese
1 Chinese
H.K. General Chamber of Commerce
2 non-Chinese
H.K. Residents' Association
1 non-Chinese
1 non-Chinese
Kowloon Residents' Association
Unofficial Justices of the Peace
1 Chinese and 1 non-Chinese
It is intended that the Council will, when it is first established, discharge responsibilities with regard to the Fire Brigade, the parks and gardens and recreation grounds in the Colony, the licensing and control of places of amusement and
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