XN000022-1985-01-10 — Page 16

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1985

THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS FROM THE FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES SHOULD ALSO BE DOUBLED, AS NOT ALL PROFESSIONS WERE REPRESENTED IN THE PROPOSED 12 SEATS. DOUBLING THIS NUMBER WOULD ENSURE THAT RPOFESSIONS SUCH AS THE RELIGIOUS GROUPS, THE ACCOUNTANTS, THE PARAMEDICALS, THE SOCIAL WORKERS, THE ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS, COULD ALL BE REPRESENTED,

WHILE ALL PROFESSIONS SHOULD BE REPRESENTED, THERE MUST BE A GREATER EMPHASIS ON THE LEGAL, COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL CONSTITUENCIES.

+SOME INITIAL ADJUSTMENTS OF THE YEAR OF ELECTION MUST BE MADE SO THAT THE ELECTORAL PROCESS FOR THE DISTRICT BOARD, URBAN COUNCIL, REGIONAL COUNCIL, AND FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES ALL FALL IN LINE IN 1988, WHEN THERE WILL BE ONE BIG ELECTION ONLY.

+SINCE THE ELECTED MEMBERS WITH THE MOST VOTES IN THE DISTRICT BOARD, URBAN COUNCIL AND REGIONAL COUNCIL WOULD BE AUTOMATICALLY MADE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TOGETHER WITH THOSE OF THE FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES, THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR A SECONDARY INDIRECT ELECTION FROM THESE ELECTORAL COLLEGES, SHE SAID.

REFORM, POWER TRANSFER SEEN AS MAJOR TASKS

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REFORMING THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND TRANSFER OF POWER WERE THE TWO MAJOR TASKS HONG KONG HAD TO COMPLETE BEFORE 1997, THE HON CHAN YING-LUN SAID IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY.

SPEAKING ON THE WHITE PAPER, MR CHAN SAID THAT A STABLE GOVERNMENT FRAMEWORK HAD TO BE ESTABLISHED BEFORE 1997, CONSISTING MAINLY OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG AND THAT THERE MUST BE A SMOOTH TRANSITION OF POWER FROM A BRITISH COLONY TO THE ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES OF HONG KONG.

ALTHOUGH THESE TASKS MUST NOT BE DONE IN HASTE, TIME WAS REALLY VERY PRESSING, HE SAID.

WITH REGARD TO GOVERNMENT REFORM, MR CHAN SAID THE WHITE PAPER HAD PROVIDED A FEASIBLE SOLUTION TO THE KIND OF GOVERNMENT WHICH WOULD HAVE THE CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE.

+THIS IS BECAUSE THE FUTURE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WILL CONSIST OF MEMBERS ELECTED BY THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND THE FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES, AS WELL AS APPOINTED AND OFFICIAL MEMBERS, AND WILL BE OF AN EVEN MORE REPRESENTATIVE NATURE THAN THE PRESENT LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, HE SAID.

/REFERRING TO