TNAG-1284-FCO40-1636-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 141

CONCEPT OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT BASED ON POPULAR ELECTIONS HAS

BEEN MOST WIDELY DEVELOPED. THE BOARDS PROVIDE A FORUM FOR

PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL. THEY

HAVE A MAINLY ADVISORY ROLE WITH A SUBSTANTIAL INFLUENCE OVER

DISTRICT AFFAIRS. THEY ARE ALSO ALLOCATED SOME PUBLIC FUNDS FOR

LOCAL RECREATIONAL AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES AND FOR MINOR

ENVIRONMENTAL WORKS.

16. THE SYSTEM BY WHICH MEMBERS OF THE URBAN COUNCIL AND DISTRICT

BOARDS ARE ELECTED IS BASED ON AN ELECTORAL ROLL ON WHICH ALL

RESIDENTS AGED 21 OR ABOVE WHO HAVE BEEN IN HONG KONG FOR SEVEN OR

MORE YEARS ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE REGISTERED. OUT OF AN ESTIMATED TOTAL

POTENTIAL ELECTORATE OF 2.7 MILLION, THERE ARE AT PRESENT APPROXIMATELY 900,000 RESISTERED ELECTORS. AN INTENSIVE CAMPAIGN TO

ENCOURAGE MANY MORE ELIGIBLE PERSONS TO RESISTER AS ELECTORS WILL

BE CONDUCTED IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

17. PLANS TO DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF ELECTED MEMBERS ON THE DISTRICT

BOARDS IN 1985 AND TO SET UP A NEW PARTLY ELECTED REGIONAL COUNCIL

IN 1986, TO COVER THOSE AREAS NOT UNDER THE AEGIS OF THE URBAN COUNCIL, WERE ANNOUNCED BY THE GOVERNMENT VERY RECENTLY. THE NEW REGIONAL COUNCIL WILL BE COMPOSED OF 12 DIRECTLY ELECTED MEMBERS,

NINE REPRESENTATIVES ELECTED FROM THE NEW TERRITORIES DISTRICT

BOARDS, THREE EX-OFFICIO REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE HEUNG YEE KUK AND 12 APPOINTED MEMBERS. A PROVISIONAL REGIONAL COUNCIL, WITH THE SAME MEMBERSHIP, EXCEPT FOR THE 12 DIRECTLY ELECTED MEMBERS, WILL

BE SET UP IN EARLY 1985. THE URBAN COUNCIL IS NOW CONSULTING WITH

THE GOVERNMENT ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE NEW

REGIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE FORM AND COMPOSITION OF THE URBAN COUNCIL.

18. THERE IS ALSO AN EXTENSIVE NETWORK OF 371 BOARDS AND

COMMITTEES, WHICH MAKE UP AN IMPORTANT AND DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF

THE SYSTEM OF CONSULTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG. MANY HUNDREDS

OF CITIZENS SERVE AS MEMBERS OF THESE BOARDS AND COMMITTEES.

MOST OF THEM ARE APPOINTED BUT IN SOME CASES THEY ARE ELECTED, HALF

OF THESE BOARDS AND COMMITTEES ARE CHAIRED BY UNOFFICIALS. SOME OF

THE BOARDS ARE STATUTORY AND OTHERS NON-STATUTORY. THEIR

RESPONSIBILITIES VARY WIDELY, FROM TENDERING ADVICE ON IMPORTANT POLICY MATTERS TO THE GOVERNMENT OR TO HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS TO

PERFORMING FUNCTIONS OF AN EXECUTIVE OR QUASI-JUDICIAL NATURE. THEY

ALSO PROVIDE AN INVALUABLE TRAINING AND RECRUITING GROUND FOR

APPOINTMENT TO THE HIGHER COUNCILS.

CHAPTER 3 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM

19. THE MOST DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

IN HONG KONG IS THAT IT OPERATES ON THE BASIS OF CONSULTATION AND

CONSENSUS. IT IS NOT A SYSTEM BASED ON PARTIES, FACTIONS AND

ADVERSARIAL POLITICS BUT ONE OF BROAD AGREEMENTS WHICH SEEKS TO

TAKE A PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE DAY. THERE IS FULL

AND FRANK DISCUSSION OF THE MANY IMPORTANT MATTERS WHICH ARISE,

AND DECISIONS ARE REACHED ON THE BASIS OF GENERAL CONSENSUS. THE

VERY REAL ADVANTAGES OF THIS SYSTEM, WHICH HAVE ENABLED HONG KONG

SECRET

TC.