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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
for the registration of new electors. The number of electors registered at the end of 1982 was 903 577 representing about one-third of an estimated total potential electorate of about 2 700 000. Of these electors, 706 833 are resident in the urban areas and they are entitled to vote at the Urban Council elections and at the district board elections in the urban areas; the remaining 196 744 electors are resident in the New Territories and they are entitled to vote only at the district board elections in the New Territories.
An elector is entitled to vote only in the constituency in which he has been registered. For the Urban Council elections, there are 15 constituencies. For the district board elections, there are 76 constituencies in the urban areas and 46 constituencies in the New Territories. Except for 10 district board constituencies in the New Territories which are double-member constituencies, all other district board constituencies and Urban Council constituencies are single-member constituencies.
The rules for candidature are also very simple: any elector who has been in Hong Kong for 10 or more years can be nominated as a candidate for election to the Urban Council or a district board in any constituency if his nomination is supported by 10 electors in that constituency.
The Executive
Role of the Chief Secretary
The Chief Secretary is the principal adviser to the Governor on matters of policy. He is the chief executive of the Hong Kong Government, and with the Financial Secretary and the Attorney General he is one of the three officers of the Executive with the right of direct access to the Governor.
The Chief Secretary has a very small personal staff. He exercises direction primarily as head of the Government Secretariat, the central organisation comprising the secretaries of the policy branches and their staffs. Since 1902, when the office of Lieutenant-Governor lapsed, the Chief Secretary (or his predecessor, the Colonial Secretary) has deputised for the Governor during his absence. He is the leading official member of the Legislative Council, and the Chairman of the Finance Committee.
A new post of Secretary (General Duties) was created in November 1982 in the office of the Chief Secretary to support and assist the Governor and the Chief Secretary in dealing with additional work arising from-the talks on the future of Hong Kong.
Role of the Financial Secretary
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The Financial Secretary is responsible for the fiscal and economic policies of the Hong Kong Government, and is an ex-officio member of both the Executive and Legislative Councils. He is, in addition, a member of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council, and Chairman of the Public Works Sub-Committee of the Finance Committee. As the government officer with primary responsibility for Hong Kong's fiscal and economic policies, the Financial Secretary oversees the operations of the Finance, Monetary Affairs, Trade and Industry and Economic Services Branches of the government.
The Financial Secretary is responsible under the Public Finance Ordinance for laying before the legislature each year the government's Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. In his capacity as an official member of the Legislative Council, he makes a speech each year outlining the government's budgetary proposals, and moving the adoption of the Appropriation Bill which gives legal effect to the annual expenditure proposals contained in the Budget. He is also personally responsible under a number of ordinances for carrying