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Lex
HONG KONG
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CONSTITUTION CHANGES
Draft of Proposed Statement in the House of Commons
On the 1st May my predecessor announced in this
House that His Majesty's Government had had under
consideration the means by which in Hong Kong, as elsewhere
in the Colonial Empire, the inhabitants of the territory
could be given a fuller and more responsible share in the
management of their own affairs. He went on to say that it
was thought that one possible method of achieving this end
would be by handing over certain functions of internal
administration to a Municipal Council constituted on a
fully representative basis but that the Governor had been
asked thoroughly to examine these important issues in
consultation with the representatives of all sections of
the community in Hong Kong.
Since that time the Governor and his Advisers he
have have been continuously engaged in these consultations and
after considering other alternatives he has now come to the
conclusion, with which I agree, that
(a) a Municipal Council should be set up in Hong Kong
on the widest representative basis possible. The majority
of the members will be elected, and the Council will
gradually assume as many of the present functions of the
Central Government as can appropriately be assigned to it.
The Municipality will include Kowloon
(b) that the constitution of the Legislative Council
should be modified with the object of securing on that
body a more direct and a proportionately increased
representation of the unofficial community. Under his
recommendation, which I have accepted, the official
members will be reduced to seven, and of the eight
unofficial members two will be directly nominated by
the Municipal Council, and one cach by the Hong Kong
General