existing qualifications. He considered that any franchise based on payment of rates or the occupation of domestic premises needed much
more careful consideration than had been given to it hitherto and
suggested that the examination of a property franchise should await the outcome of a Colony-wide housing census which is to be carried
out in 1970. He has, therefore, recommended that the existing franchise should be continued for at least four years. It is
difficult to argue against his recommendation that the time is not right for adult suffrage (particularly since the Urban Council has avoided recommending so wide a franchise); or against his
recommendation that the existing franchise should be continued until
a much more soundly conceived and rational alternative basis can be
found. It is also arguable that no extension of the franchise
should be contemplated until it can be established that the conferment of wider functions and increased financial responsibility of the Urban Council can change the apathy of the present electorate.
9.
one
Composition. The Urban Council report proposed that in the District Councils there should be eight official members; elected member for every 100,000 population; and for every three elected members one member nominated by the Governor and one by the Municipal Council. In the Municipal Council there should be seven official members (including the Colonial Secretary!); twenty elected members (ten elected on a territory-wide basis, ten on a ward basis covering the urban areas); ten members indirectly
elected by the District Councils from their unofficial members; and ten members nominated by the Governor (five in his discretion, five from among persons nominated by the Municipal Council). The Working Party report concluded that it would be unwise to rely initially on
wholly elected membership and suggested a ratio of elected to
nominated members of 3: 1 or 3: 2, with Councils having a total
membership of 30 40 and no official members. The Dickingon report proposed a Municipal Council, likewise with no official members, of twenty-two elected and twenty nominated members (i.e. a majority of elected members). But for Tsuen Wan where, under the existing
franchise, only a small fraction of the residents would qualify to register as voters, he has proposed that the District Officer should
/ be constituted
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