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Governor's question-and-answer session in LegCo
Following is a transcript of the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten's question-and-answer session in the Legislative Council today (Thursday):
Governor: I thought that I would allow more time for questions by not making a statement today.
Mr Szeto Wah (in Chinese): Mr Governor, the Executive Council has to observe collective responsibility and so does the Preparatory Committee. If we have a person who is both an Executive Councillor and also a member of the Preparatory Committee, when there are different decisions between the Executive Council and the Preparatory Committee, where should his responsibility lie? And should it be the first one that should take precedence or should it be the last one that should take precedence over the previous one? Thank you.
Governor: I congratulate the honourable gentleman on such a clever, thoughtful, intellectually provoking, constitutional question.
It's not for me to comment on the working practices of the Preparatory Committee. Save to say that perhaps it's easier to have collective responsibility and confidentiality in a body as small as an Executive Council or a cabinet and perhaps a little more difficult, and that's not meant as a criticism, it's a statement of my views on human nature, a little more difficult when you've got 150 people. But I wish those who are organising the work of the Preparatory Committee the best of luck in that respect.
As for the dilemma which the honourable member mentioned, I would very much hope that were there such a dilemma in practice, the member of the Executive Council and Preparatory Committee would use his own judgement and apply his own integrity to decide what the honourable course of action was. I think it's difficult to answer the question in the abstract. I would only add that knowing who the honourable member has in mind, I have no doubt at all that the honourable gentleman concerned would, in that case, as in others, behave with complete integrity.
Mr Szeto Wah (in Chinese): The ExCo and also the Preparatory Committee have rules of confidentiality, so this person who has membership in both, how should we advise him? Should he try and keep things from both parties or should he try and please both? How can he really play the role of a bridge effectively?