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Redacted under FOI Exemption S 27(1)
10). The paper suggested that such a "consultative college" might comprise members of the Executive and Legislative Councils;
representatives of the functional LegCo constituencies; and representatives of other territory wide bodies and organisations of
standing in the community. In Trilogy II (the papers handed over to Wu by the Secretary of State in October 1986) the concept was expanded a little. The paper on the Composition of the Legislature (Trilogy II, Note 2, para 10) suggested "a broadly based electoral
college" as à possible mechanism whereby members currently appointed to LegCo (whether as officials or unofficials) could continue to participate in the legislature after 1997, when it will be constituted by elections.
4.
The concept of an electoral college also figures in the Green Paper on representative government, described as an idea with longer-term application. The Secretary of State will recall that he passed the chapter on the legislature from the draft Green Paper (in a thinly disguised form) to Wu at their meeting in Berne in March. This paper, which was cleared with the Prime Minister and colleagues
beforehand, included a reference to the possibility of election to
the legislature after 1997 "by way of a broadly based electoral
college. It is an idea which could have relevance to the longer
term future of both appointed and official members".
5.
The passage in question was
then expanded to three paragraphs. These suggested that the college
might consist of "several hundred persons drawn from the legislature, the Municipal Councils and District Boards, statutory
and non-statutory organisations and various other sectors of the community". The full text of the Green Paper was cleared with the Prime Minister and colleagues before publication. The idea has
stimulated some further discussions in Hong Kong: but it has
inevitably been overshadowed by public debate on direct elections.
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