TNAG-1372-FCO40-1818-Ministerial-visits-from-the-UK-to-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 254

CONFIDENTIAL

20.

The Elections will be indirect: elected local

government boards will form an electoral college to

choose 12 members for LegCo; 12 other members will be

elected by functional constituencies representing the

A

ma in professional, commercial and other groups.

the next stage of development i s

before the elections planned for

further review of

scheduled for 1987,

1988.

21. The first elections to LegCo will be held on 26

September. 64 candidates have been nominated for

election to the 24 seats and as a result the elections

will be keenly contested. The Governor has reported

that with a few exceptions the candidates have no obvious political background.

interest among the Hong Kong public and media in the

elections.

The re i s considerable

and

the

22. In recent months we have received (mostly through

a variety of unofficial sources) expressions of

concern on the part of the Chinese Government that

constitutional change in Hong Kong may be proceeding

too fast.

The Chinese concern will have been

exacerbated by the controversy in Hong Kong this

summer over the passage of the LegCo (Powers

Privileges) Bill, which in preparation for elections sought to codify the various immunities and

parliamentary-style privileges of LegCo members. The

measure was widely attacked in Hong Kong as an attempt

to gag public criticism of LegCo in preparation for

1997. The Bill, much-amended, was eventually passed, but there is now some public suspicion in Hong Kong of

the Hong Kong Government's motives in promoting

constitutional change. Chinese concern is, however,

probably aimed less at the electoral process to be

inaugurated on 26 Septembr than as an early warning of

Chinese views in anticipation of the Hong Kong

Government's review in 1987.

CONFIDENTIAL

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