TNAG-1596-FCO40-2181-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 17

4

electoral

system would ultimately lead. There is certainly

to a

no reference as there was in the 1984 Green Paper

greater representative element in the Executive Council, or

to the possible development of a ministerial system which as the now Senior Member said in her speech in the 1984 Debate should be the "longer-term objective" in order to convince

people that their elected representatives would have real influence. What is the purpose then of creating an odd assembly of appointed, directly-elected, and indirectly-elected members, if ultimately they are all meant to carry the same responsibilities and have the same status and the same vote? What else could differentiate the directly-elected members, particularly if they are kept in the minority, from their fellow-members other than their claim that only they truly represented the people of Hong Kong and therefore could intrinsically speak with greater authority and were thus entitled to more respect for their views?

Does this not suggest that we shall be creating a permanent opposition in this Council whose members' role as frequent objectors of government policies and actions and of majority decisions will almost be thrust upon them since they have to prove to the electorate that they, and not the majority, speak for the population? Will Government not then find it difficult to disregard or overrule the views of the directly-elected members without running the risk of being seen as insensitive to the needs and aspirations of the community as a whole? We have had occasions in the recent past when Government was accused of just such an attitude and was as a result described as unresponsive and "lacking in credibility." Does Government really wish to face confrontation on every major issue? Does it really want to see the appointed and indirectly-elected members of this Council firmly relegated in the public mind to the role only of defenders of special interests, something of which we are already being accused? Is the Government convinced that partial direct elections as proposed in Clause 107 (ii)-(iv) of the Green Paper are the way forward to maintaining, in the Chief Secretary's words, "a stable and consistent government that can operate effectively"? At the same time, are the people