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18. The system envisaged in this Green Paper involved a Legislative Council consisting of a progressively larger proportion of members indirectly elected through electoral colleges formed by geographically based bodies (the Urban Council, the new Regional Council and the District Boards) and "functional" groups (e.g. industry, labour, commerce, finance, medicine, law, etc.). The next step would be for a majority of Executive Council members to be elected by and from the Legislative Council. Finally, the Governor himself would be elected by an electoral college comprising all the elected members of the two Councils, and would lose his powers
(never exercised in modern times) to act against the advice of the Executive Council.
19.
The Green Paper proposed that, by 1991, a majority of Legislative Council members (either 56% or 80%) should be indirectly elected. It also raised the more radical issues of direct elections and a
ministerial system. But little encouragement was given to either idea. Both you, Sir, in Parliament and Sir Edward Youde in the Legislative Council said at the time that to introduce direct elections, which had not always worked elsewhere, would be to risk introducing adversarial politics and instability at a time when Hong Kong could least afford it. Sir Edward Youde also stressed the special political circumstances of Hong Kong and the need to find a system which would give full weight to the vital interests on which Hong Kong's position as an international business centre depended.
20. Privately, there was another important reason for arguing against both direct elections and a ministerial system. All involved were concerned that direct elections at the central level would lead to competition between communist, nationalist and other factions with the real threat being the well-organised and powerful communists. Similarly, it was feared that the introduction of a ministerial system would be an open invititation to the communists to get their nominees into key positions.
21.
In the event it was the question of direct elections which attracted by far the most public response. There was very little comment on the Green Paper's references to changes in the Executive Council or in the office of Governor. To put this in perspective, it is worth noting that only 364 submissions were made by groups and individuals in response to the Green paper (from a population of about 5 million). Nevertheless, this demonstrated more public interest in constitutional reform than had been seen before in Hong Kong.
22.
A White Paper published in November 1984 took the landmark decision to introduce 24 indirectly elected
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