SECRET
Office produced a similar result. Other public opinion surveys and signature campaigns were generally in favour of introduction in
1988. Opinions among Legislative Councillors, Municipal Councillors
and District Board members differed widely.
Taken as a whole, the public response to the Green Paper
showed that there is wide support among the people of Hong Kong for the principle of introducing directly elected members into the
Legislative Council, but that the community is divided over the
timing of this move.
Few opinions were expressed on how direct elections might be
organized. Those who commented were on balance in favour of having
several constituencies rather than a single territory-wide constituency. They also tended to favour having direct elections in
addition to, rather than instead of, the present system of indirect
elections by an electoral college.
Stability and Transition
There is a strong consensus in the community over the
importance of stability. Stable government has always been crucial
to Hong Kong. It will remain crucial in the years leading up to
1997 and beyond. Stability is essential for public confidence in
the Government and in the future of the territory, as well as for
overseas business confidence in Hong Kong.
The maintenance of stability requires that the development of Hong Kong's system of representative government should continue to
be evolutionary rather than revolutionary: that each step should be
carefully considered: and that changes should command wide support and confidence in the community.
Such evolution must also be compatible with a smooth transfer
of government in 1997. There will be changes in 1997 arising from
the restoration of Hong Kong to China. But the interests of the
community require that there should be a high degree of continuity
and that the form of government in particular should continue to be
one with which the people of Hong Kong are familiar and in which
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