CONFIDENTIAL
16
(2) The Executive Council
3.16
(Chapter VI of the Green Paper)
The issues which were the subject of comments under this heading included whether the role and functions of the Executive Council needed to be changed; whether the composition of the Council should be modified and, if so, how; how should the members of the Council be selected; what should be the relationship between the Executive Council and the Legislative Council; what should be the role of the Unofficial members of the Executive Council in the Administration; and when should any changes stemming from consideration of these issues be introduced.
3.17
The proposal that the majority of Unofficial members of Executive Council should be elected from among Legislative Councillors was supported by a fair number of representative bodies and major organisations including the Heung Yee Kuk, the Shatin District Board, the NT General Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Students. Leading personalities such as Legislative and Urban Councillors and several District Board members also lent their support to the proposal. However, a few of them felt that it might be too late to introduce the changes to Executive Council in 1988 if a reasonably effective political system was to be established before 1997. They urged that the proposal be implemented earlier. The Hong Kong Affairs Society supported the concept but suggested that all of the sixteen seats of the Executive Council should be taken up by members elected by the Legislative Council in 1988. The Reform Club also supported the proposal with the suggestion that the Chairmen of the Regional Council and Urban Council should be made ex-officio members of the Executive Council.
3.18
One suggestion was that there should be power vested in the Legislative Council to disiniss the Executive Council. The suggestion was widely reported but was not followed up by public comment.
CONFIDENTIAL
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