TNAG-1354-FCO40-1795-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 75

Speech by the Chief Secretary

at the resumed debate on the Second Reading

of the Legislative Council (Electoral Provisions) Bill 1985

in the Legislative Council on 3 April 1985

Sir,

I am grateful for the support given to this Bill by

my Unofficial colleagues and also for their understanding of

the very tight time constraints under which we have all been

labouring. These constraints arise, of course, from the fact

that the White Paper on the Further Development of

Representative Government was not laid on the table of this

Council until 21 November 1984, leaving only nine months for

all the necessary practical arrangements for elections to be

held in the Autumn of 1985 to be put in hand, for

consultations with organisations making up the functional

constituencies, and for enabling

for enabling legislation to be drafted.

This is because actual elections by both the electoral

colleges and functional constituencies have to take place

before the end of September leaving a month for the Governor

to complete the composition of the new Legislative Council

with the requisite number of appointed members.

2

It is a a fact, and I know that Members are aware of

this, that unless the registration of electors for inclusion

in the Provisional Register can begin on 15 April, and no

later, and unless the publication of

of notices of elections

inviting nomination of candidates are published in the

official gazette on 2 August, we shall not be able to complete

either the registration cycle or the electoral cycle in time

for election day.

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