SECRET
6
The White Paper
17.
The White Paper published on 10 February, "The Development of Representative Government:
The Way Forward", provides for 10 directly elected seats to be introduced into the Legislative Council in 1991, the next occasion after this year when elections will be held. Members elected by functional constituencies will be increased, this year, by two (accountants plus nurses and para-medics) and appointed members will be reduced by two. Subject to any further changes introduced before 1991, we will then have a Council of 56 members: 10 will be officials; 14 elected by functional constituencies; 2 elected by the Urban and Regional Councils; 10 directly elected on a geographical basis; and 20 appointed by the Governor.
18.
Further changes announced in the White Paper rationalise the three-tier system of government so that each tier will now elect representatives to the next (District Boards to Municipal Councils and Municipal Councils to the Legislative Council). As one consequence of these changes the Urban Council will from 1989 have a majority of elected members for the first time. But some other arrangements remain unchanged. The Governor will for the time being continue to be President of the Legislative Council (a duty which took up almost 80 hours of my time in nine months of last year); District Boards will remain advisory, although government departments will be instructed to consult them systematically about all district matters and to take their views more carefully into account; and the voting age will remain at 21.
19.
The 1988 White Paper marks a major advance in the development of representative government in Hong Kong. By 1991 the territory will have moved from a
legislature which was entirely appointed, through a system which contained an indirectly elected element, to a proportion of direct elections, all in the space of six years.
It may be arguable whether an elected system will provide better, more effective and more sympathetic government for Hong Kong than the largely benevolent autocracy that it will replace. It is no longer possible, however, to argue that the change to a more representative system is not what the people of Hong Kong want; nor that there is any politically realistic option but to respond positively to this demand.
20. We have come a long way too in terms of the Chinese attitude to direct elections. In 1984, during the negotiations on Hong Kong's future, it is doubtful whether the Chinese envisaged any form of directly elected legislature after 1997. They were intent on preserving the existing form of autocratic
/government.
SECRET
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.