TNAG-1440-FCO40-1924-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1986 — Page 59

4

It

Legislature which would assist the conduct of government. would require no body additional to those referred to in the Joint Declaration to be established, and is likely to be favoured by many in Hong Kong.

10

A wider consultative college (option (c) above) would require the creation of a new body

new body for which there is no provision in the Joint Declaration. There is no experience available in Hong Kong on which a judgment could be made of how it would operate and its novelty might lead to suspicion. On the other hand, it might find favour in Hong Kong providing a consensus could be achieved on how it should be composed and how it should operate, e.g. whether it would meet in public or private; whether candidates could be presented only with the support of members of the

of the college and if So how many; whether there would be an electoral process to decide between candidates if no consensus could be reached on a single candidate, etc. It would provide a wider basis of support for the Chief Executive.

11

,

Having been selected by one of the processes above the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR would, in accordance with the Joint Declaration, be appointed by the Central People's Government.

The Executive

12

The Joint Declaration does not provide for any specific means of choosing the members of the executive or for its composition. It refers broadly to "executive authorities". The principal executive body in Hong Kong is the Executive Council

Council the

the members of which are selected by the Governor and appointed by HMG. (See Paper 1)

13

14

An SAR Executive could be formed in one of two ways:

(a) by selection by the Chief Executive himself

from among,

or outside, principal officials and the membership of the Legislature;

(b) in part at least by election from among the

members of the Legislature themselves.

provide

the

It

The first alternative is likely to simpler solution which would require the least change. would give the Executive increased authority if, once it had been selected by the Chief Executive, he sought a vote of confidence, collectively, from the Legislature. If the Executive did not enjoy the confidence of the Legislature it would have difficulty in securing the passage of laws and in raising revenue (see paragraphs 23 and 25 below).