TNAG-1288-FCO40-1639-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 153

CHAPTER I

Induction

1. In the Introduction to the Green Paper entitled "A Pattern of District Administration in Hong Kong" which was published in June 1980, it was stated that "The Executive and Legislative Councils, the central organs of Govern- ment, have evolved, and will continue to evolve as circumstances require, within the imperatives of stability and dependability which the special circumstances of Hong Kong dictate." This Green Paper follows from and develops on that

statement.

2. During the past few years, several steps have been taken to develop a system of representative government in Hong Kong at the regional and district levels. In 1973, the Urban Council was reconstituted as a financially autonomous body; the official members withdrew from the Council and its unofficial membership was increased to 24, half of them directly elected on a limited franchise. 1982 saw the first direct elections to District Boards based on a very broad franchise. In 1983, the membership of the Urban Council was further increased to 30, half of whom are now elected from district constituencies on the same broad franchise as for District Board elections.

3. For many years members of the Urban Council have been appointed by the Governor to sit on the Legislative Council, and recently some elected District Board members have also been appointed to the Legislative Council. This process will continue.

4. In May this year plans were announced to develop further the representative status of the District Boards by doubling the number of elected members in 1985, and to establish in 1986 a new Regional Council, with a substantial elected element in its membership, to cover those areas of the territory not already covered by the Urban Council.

5. At the same time, recognition of the significance of the role of consultation in the ordering of public affairs in Hong Kong, and a public expectation of consultation in respect both of specific major issues and the generality of government policies and programmes, have emerged. The Government has encouraged this process. This in turn has led to an increasing number of representations from individual members of the public and various interest groups for the development of representative government at the central level as well as the regional and district levels. The development of representative government at the central level will be of great significance for the future.

6. The purpose of this Green Paper is to suggest how the central institutions of government in Hong Kong might be made more representative in a way which will make the Government more directly accountable to the people of Hong Kong; and to invite public discussion of and comment on the proposals set out in it.

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