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Transcript of the Governor's media session
The following is a transcript of the media session by the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, after officiating at a Customs and Excise passing out parade today (Saturday).
Governor: I am delighted to have been able to come to this passing out parade. I wanted to underline my gratitude for the work done by Customs and Excise and to emphasise as well what an important role Customs and Excise plays for the whole community. You'd have seen with the enthusiastic young officers on parade today. What an excellent service we've got. Perhaps I can add one other thing. Tomorrow is a historic day, here in Hong Kong. Nothing will ever be able to erase it. I think it marks another important stage in the maturing of our community. Tomorrow comes after a campaign for the Legislative Council elections which I think has been marked by moderation and good sense. People have pursued their different points of view and their arguments very enthusiastically, very rigorously. Everybody, whatever their opinion has been involved in the election process. But unlike the situation in some other places, the whole thing has been carried through with considerable civility and considerable maturity. I think that is a mark of how comfortable Hong Kong is with the arrangements that we've put in place and how Hong Kong can take these things comfortably in its stride. Obviously we all hope that as many people as possible express their civic views tomorrow and discharge their responsibilities. Obviously, none of us know who's going to win the various closely contested races, but I hope that we'll see emerge in these elections a vigorous Legislative Council with which the administration can work in co-operation and harmony over the next years.
Question: What do you expect the voting rate?
Governor: I don't know. Anybody who tells they know is kidding. What we had in both the Municipal Councils and the District Board Elections was larger numbers of people voting than have ever voted before for those elections. The number of people registered to vote has gone up dramatically. It's gone up from about 50 per cent when we had the last Legislative Council elections to 65 per cent today. So if you have the same percentage turnout, it means a lot more people have voted. But obviously I hope that as many people will vote as possible and I repeat that, I am sure that we will see emerge from tomorrow a good, effective, representative body which can work with government in the interests of the whole community. What are challenges that we face in the next years and I think that a co-operative relationship between the administration and the Legislative Council will be an important element in tackling some of those problems.