XN000022-1972-12-29 — Page 6

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Friday, December 29, 1972

WAY PAVED FOR ENLARGED URBAN COUNCIL

Amending Bill Goes To Legco Shortly

A bill to increase the unofficial membership of the Urban Council

from 20 to 24 will soon be presented to the Legislative Council.

The Urban Council (Amendment) Bill 1973 is designed to implement

one of the recommendations in the White Paper on the Future of the

Urban Council that the Council should be reconstituted with 12 elected

and 12 appointed members.

At present, the Council has 10 elected and 10 appointed members.

The Bill, which is published in today's Gazette for general

information, will make provision for the increase in the number of

Unofficial members in time for the coming Urban Council elections to be

held on March 7 next year.

The bill will also seek to amend a section of the principal

Ordinance which requiries the Governor to appoint members for a fixed

period of four years and the amendment will enable the Governor to offer

appointments for any period up to four years.

Explaining the bill, a government spokesman said that at present,

the ten elected members retire by rotation and an election for five

members takes place every two years.

The appointments of the appointed members are so arranged that the

terms of office of five of them expire in alternate years, but not in the

same years as those in which elections are held.

Thus,