XN000022-1995-07-13 — Page 8

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Mr K K Fung (through interpreter): Thank you Mr President. A question for the Governor. With regard to the CNA and airport financing issues, there have been agreements between the two governments and the CS, Mrs Chan, went to Beijing to meet with senior Chinese officials. Hong Kong people are now more optimistic with regard to transitional issues. They think that transitional issues, for example with regard to CT9 and localisation of law, all these issues can be solved. But politicians in Hong Kong in particular feel that there is an issue which is not on the agenda for discussion yet. Now my question is related to that. In the future, with regard to the smooth transition of the three tiers of Government, will that be taken up for discussion now or at a later stage, so that through a certain approach you will talk to the Chinese authorities with regard to the smooth transition of the three tiers of Government?

Governor: We talked for 17 rourids about our attempt to secure a smooth transition for the three tiers of Government in 1993 and alas despite the concessions and accommodations offered by the Administration, concessions and accommodations which I'm sure wouldn't have commanded universal assent in this Chamber, despite that, we weren't able to secure an agreement at the end of the day.

What's the situation now? The situation is one in which we've had the first two rounds of elections to District Boards and Municipal Councils which have been elected for the first time by direct election. All their members directly elected and we had, virtually all their members directly elected, thank you. And we've had for the first time, and we've had for these first virtual direct elections, we've had a record number of candidates and a record voter turnout. 60 per cent higher as I recall in the District Boards than the previous elections and I think 40 per cent in the Municipal Council elections higher than the time before. Now we have the Legislative Council elections coming over the horizon in September in which a number of Honourable Members will be engaged. I'm sure those elections will be as successful as the District Board and Municipal Council elections. We've now got, I think a record percentage of voters registered, around 65 per cent in the geographical constituencies and in the functional constituencies there'll be about 15 times as many people eligible to vote as was the case last time, well over a million. So I'm sure those elections will be successful and we'll have as a result a broadly elected Legislative Council, freely and fairly elected which should of course be able to continue with some appropriate mechanism to take account of Chinese sovereignty in 1997 until 1999.