TNAG-1287-FCO40-1638-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 262

15.

-

In

the deferment of the complete introduction of the proposed new arrangements by one year until 1992. addition, although it would give those District Board members newly elected in 1985 more time to settle down, it would result in 18 months of political uncertainty every three years for those members of the Legislative Council seeking re-election, instead of only six months of uncertainty if the elections to the Legislative Council take place in the month of September in District Board election years. It would be better, therefore, to complete the District Board and the Legislative Council elections in the same year and then have a period of two and a half years of political certainty before the next District Board elections.

40.

At the same time as the proposed arrangements for the elections of Unofficial members of the Legislative Council by the

Council by the electoral college and the functional constituencies are introduced by stages, it is proposed that the number

number of appointed Unofficial members should be progressively reduced with a view to their complete removal by 1991.

>

the

41.

In the case of the Official members it is proposed that the principal officers in Administration, i.e. the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary and

and the Attorney General, should remain as ex-officio members of the Legislative Council as a link between the Council and the Administration. There will also continue to be a need for a number of officials to sit, as now, in the Legislative Council, in order to introduce formally legislation within their field of competence, once the draft legislation has been approved Council, to discuss it with the specialist groups of Unofficial members of the Legislative Council which examine such legislation in detail, to answer questions from members on the policies approved by the Executive Council in their fields and to answer for the Administration's execution of them. There need, however, not be as many officials as in the past and the number of Official members in the Legislative Council will be reduced progressively to 10.

by the Executive

42.

The total membership of the Legislative Council in 1991, resulting from all these proposed changes,

would be 50.