18. Bodies similar to the present Executive and Legislative Council are proposed, and described below, but in addition a Council of Government Advisers is proposed with three principal functions, viz:
(i) to make a nomination to the Central People's Government for Governor;
(ii) to make recommendations to the Central People's Government for amendments in detail to the constitution in the Basic Law, after seeking endorsement by the Legislative Council; and
(iii) to elect from among themselves one third of the members of Legislative Council.
The Council of Government Advisers.
19. The Council of Government Advisers will be a body of leading citizens who have already achieved their positions by service on Executive or Legislative Councils, in industry, in commerce, in financial services, in the legal and other professions, in the civil service, or in other ways in the community. No serving members of the Executive or Legislative Councils or the civil service may be appionted to the Council. In general appiontees will be retired men and women but this will not be a statutory requirement.
20. Appointment to the Council will be by the Governor with a power of disallowance by the Central People's Government. Appointment will be for life and there will be no numerical limit to the size of the Council.
21. This Council should be set up before 1997. This would require that in the first place it would be the U.K. Government that would be empowered formally to exercise the power of disallowance. This would be acceptable so long as it consulted the Chinese People's Government beforehand. The discussions required could quite properly be conducted in the Joint Liasion Group under Paragraph 3(b) of Annex II to the Joint Agreement.
22. The Council of Government Advisers, in addition to its principal functions, will also be a source of advice to the Governor and to the Chief Minister at their discretion. Neither will be required to consult the Council on all important matters as the Governor is now required to consult Executive Council.
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