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TUESDAY, MAY 31, 1988
DINAH LEE (BUSINESS WEEK): SIR
GEOFFREY, IN 1984 WHEN YOU PERSONALLY ENDORSED AN AGREEMENT WHICH PROMISED AN ELECTED LEGISLATURE TO HONG KONG, HOW DID YOU, AS AN INDIVIDUAL, INTERPRET THAT PHRASE? DID YOU, FOR EXAMPLE, ENVISION A SYSTEM WHERE ONLY ONE OUT OF FOUR WOULD BE ELECTED, OR DID YOU ENVISION A SYSTEM WHERE LESS THAN ONE PER CENT OF THE POPULATION, THE SMALL ELITE, APPOINTED
APPOINTED BY A COMMUNIST CAPITAL TO THE NORTH, WOULD NOMINATE THE CANDIDATES? IS THIS YOUR DEFINITION OF AN ELECTED LEGISLATURE? HOW ELASTIC CAN THIS PHRASE BE SEEN NOW?
SIR GEOFFREY: I START FROM THE FACT THAT 'THE ACHIEVEMENT IN THE JOINT DECLARATION OF THE COMMITMENT TO AN ELECTED LEGISLATURE WAS ONE OF THE THINGS FOR WHICH WE WORKED MOST HARD, AND WHICH WAS ONE OF THE ONES THAT CAME INTO PLACE ONLY QUITE CLOSE ΤΟ THE END OF THE NEGOTIATIONS. I CERTAINLY DID NOT VISUALISE THAT BEING TRANSLATED INTO PRACTICE BY THE PATTERN OF DIRECT ELECTIONS FOR ALL OR ANYTHING LIKE ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE THEN GOING TO BE ELECTED. THE PATTERN WAS ONE THAT WAS BOUND TO BE EVOLVED FOR THE FUTURE, TAKING ACCOUNT
OF THE FACT THAT HONG KONG UP TO THAT TIME HAD HAD NO EXPERIENCE OF DIRECT ELECTIONS AT ALL.
NOW, WHERE WE ARE NOW IS WE'VE GOT IN THE ANNEXES TO THE BASIC LAW DRAFT, A SERIES OF VARIATIONS OF METHODS WHEREBY THAT WILL BE ACHIEVED. AND THEY WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF FURTHER DISCUSSION AND FURTHER NEGOTIATION WITHIN THE BASIC LAW DRAFTING COMMITTEE.
DINAH LEE: DON'T YOU FIND IT IRONIC THAT NONE OF THE MANY OPTIONS OFFERED IN THE BASIC LAW INCLUDE THE ONE WHICH WOULD ВГ THE MOST EASILY INTERPRETED FROM THE PHRASE "ELECTED LEGISLATURE"?
SIR GEOFFREY: I DON'T THINK ONE SHOULD FIND THAT IRONIC AT ALL. WE'RE NOT STARTING FROM WESTMINSTER. WE'RE STARTING FROM HIONG KONG, AGAINST A BACKGROUND WHERE AS 1 SAID THERE HAD BEEN NO DIRECTLY ELECTED MEMBERS OF LEGCO AT ALL UNTIL THE FIRST NO ELECTED MEMBERS OF LEGCO AT ALL UNTIL THE FIRST KXAMPLES WERE INTRODUCED IN 1985. AND THAT IS WHY THE MATTER HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF CONSIDERATION AND ONE STEP OF CHANGE SO FAR.
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AND THE POINT I THINK THAT I HAVE EMPHASISED EQUALLY ALL THE WAY THROUGH, AND I DID SO WAY BACK IN 1984, AND I SAID THAT WE WANT TO AVOID SUDDEN AND DRAMAT DE CHANGES WHICH COULD UNSETTLE THE VERY STABILITY WHICH ALL OUR EFFORTS ARE DESIGNED TO SECURE. THAT'S THE FRAMEWORK IN WHICH THIS CONSIDERATION HAS BEEN TAKING PLACE, AND QUITE RIGHTLY SO.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
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