XN000022-1985-10-30 — Page 10

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1985

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STATING THAT THE OPENING OF THE 1985-86 SESSION OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, WHICH BEGAN TODAY IN ITS NEW CHAMBER, MARKED ANOTHER STEP IN THE EVOLUTION OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG, SIR EDWARD ADDED:

+ IN THIS FAST DEVELOPING WORLD, ALL SOCIETIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE- AND THEIR INSTITUTIONS MUST ADAPT TO MEET THE CHANGING REQUIREMENTS OF THE SOCIETIES WHICH ESTABLISHED THEM.

+AT THE SAME TIME, FULL WEIGHT MUST BE GIVEN TO THE NEED FOR STABILITY. HONG KONG IS SUCCESSFUL ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY BECAUSE IT IS A STABLE SOCIETY.

+PROGRESS AND STABILITY MUST GO HAND IN HAND.+

THE GOVERNOR SAID HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT MEMBERS OF THE NEW, ENLARGED LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, WHICH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HONG KONG'S HISTORY, HAD AN IMPORTANT PART OF ITS MEMBERSHIP CHOSEN BY INDIRECT ELECTION, WOULD RECOGNISE THAT, WHEN IN THE CHAMBER THEY WERE ALL PART OF ONE COUNCIL.

+EACH MEMBER MAY HAVE HIS OR HER INDIVIDUAL ALLEGIANCE BUT ALL OF US HAVE A COMMON RESPONSIBILITY TO THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE,+ SIR EDWARD SAID.

THE POLICIES ENDORSED AND THE LEGISLATION PASSED WOULD AFFECT THE DAILY LIVES, NOT ONLY OF THOSE SECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY WHICH INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS MIGHT REPRESENT, BUT OF EVERYONE IN HONG KONG.

+WHILE I EXPECT ISSUES TO BE VIGOROUSLY DEBATED IN THIS CHAMBER, IT WILL BE INCUMBENT ON US ALL NEVER TO LOSE SIGHT OF THAT COMMON RESPONSIBILITY, THE GOVERNOR SAID.

REFERRING TO THE EVOLUTION OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT, SIR EDWARD SAID THAT THE URBAN COUNCIL HAD HAD ELECTED MEMBERS FOR MANY YEARS, AND DISTRICT BOARDS FIRST HAD A PROPORTION OF THE IR MEMBERSHIP ELECTED IN 1982, AND HAD SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASED THIS NUMBER EARLIER THIS YEAR. AND ELECTIONS FOR THE NEW REGIONAL COUNCIL WOULD BE HELD IN MARCH NEXT YEAR.

ŞIR EDWARD SAID HE HAD NO DOUBT THAT THE NEW LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WOULD BE ADOPTING ITS OWN DISTINCTIVE WORKING STYLE+,

+ IN DOING SO, HE ADDED, IT INHERITS A SUCCESSFUL PATTERN ON WHICH TO BUILD.+

COUNCIL MEMBERS HAD, OVER THE YEARS, BUILT UP A +REMARKABLE RECORD+ AS SPOKESMEN FOR THE COMMUNITY ON VITAL ISSUES.

+THEY HAVE SCRUTINISED AND PASSED AN IMPRESSIVE BODY OF LAW, WHICH HAS PROVIDED THE FRAMEWORK WITHIN WHICH HONG KONG HAS BEEN ABLE TO GROW INTO THE SUCCESSFUL SOCIETY IT IS TODAY.

/+THAT SOCIETY

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