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25
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contemplate
introducing another new process of
selection of Legislative Council members.
46.
One important consideration is the likely
willingness of Hong Kong people to participate in
direct elections in 1988. Voter turnout at District
Board and municipal council elections has been
increasing, but it is still relatively low compared
with other countries which have systems of direct
elections. If, on election day, only a small proportion
of those eligible to vote actually take the trouble to
cast their votes, the validity of the winning
candidate's claim to
represent the people in his
constituency will be weakened.
f
47.
A low turn-out of electors can enable a
candidate to be elected with the support of a
relatively small but energetic body of supporters whose
views and objectives are not representative of the
majority of people in the community which he has been
elected to represent.
In such circumstances the
elected member may neither be truly representative of
his constituency, nor may he feel particularly
accountable to them. The credibility of the system as
a whole would be diminished by such a situation.
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