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PART ONE OF TWO
MIPT: REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT: WHITE PAPER:
STATEMENT BY THE CHIEF SECRETARY
SIR,
·
LAID ON THE TABLE TODAY IS THE WHITE PAPER ''THE DEVELOPMENT
OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT: THE WAY FORWARD
PUBLICATION OF THIS WHITE PAPER MARKS THE END OF THE 1987 REVIEW
OF DEVELOPMENTS IN REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. SOME NINE MONTHS
HAVE PASSED SINCE THE GREEN PAPER WAS TABLED IN THIS COUNCIL.
THEY HAVE BEEN MONTHS OF INTENSE DEBATE IN THE COMMUNITY IN THE
MEDIA AND IN THIS CHAMBER. ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN OCCASIONS
WHEN STRONG WORDS HAVE BEEN SPOKEN, THE GENERAL TENOR OF
THE DEBATE HAS BEEN THOUGHTFUL, MEASURED AND MODERATE. I THINK
WE HAVE ALL BEEN STRUCK BY THE SINCERITY OF THE VIEWS WHICH HAVE
BEEN EXPRESSED.
/
FOR MANY YEARS, THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MORE REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. IN SHAPING THAT DEVELOPMENT, WE HAVE SOUGHT NOT MERELY TO COPY SYSTEMS WHICH WORK WELL IN OTHER PLACES FOR HONG KONG IS NOT LIKE OTHER PLACES. INSTEAD, WE HAVE CONSCIOUSLY SOUGHT TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM WHICH IS SUITED TO HONG KONG'S OWN SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND MEETS
ITS OWN SPECIAL NEEDS: IN PARTICULAR THE NEED TO MAINTAIN CONTINUITY OF POLICIES TO ENABLE US TO DEAL WITH THE TREMENDOUS
SOCIAL PROBLEMS WHICH HAVE FOLLOWED FROM THE VAST INCREASE IN OUR
POPULATION OVER THE LAST FORTY YEARS: AN INCREASE WHICH IS UNPARALLELED IN ANY PLACE OF THIS SIZE OVER SUCH A PERIOD. THE ECONOMIC SUCCESS WHICH HAS REWARDED THE HARD WORK, ENERGY AND ENTERPRISE OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, HAS ENABLED US TO MEET THE CHALLENGES WE HAVE HAD TO FACE IN PROVIDING HOUSING, EDUCATION,
MEDICAL SERVICES AND WELFARE FOR OUR EVER INCREASING POPULATION.
BUT CONTINUITY ALONE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ENOUGH. THE SUCCESS
COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED WITHOUT A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT WHICH
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