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19 JUL 1908
FROM: A R PAUL, HKD
DATE: 19 July 1988
CC:
PS/Lord Glenarthur
Mr Gillmore
Mr McLaren
Private Secretary
HONG KONG'S LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL : THE IMPACT OF ELECTIONS
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1. I submit a despatch from the Governor of Hong Kong dated 16 July
about Hong Kong's Legislative Council. The Secretary of State may wish to see this before his meeting with the Governor on 20 July.
2. The despatch brings out clearly the major and dramatic changes that have taken place within LegCo in the past three years: it has grown from a body of little status or prominence into one of real and growing influence. The essential message of the despatch is that this process of change is bound to continue, with consequences that we cannot at this stage accurately predict but must try to
anticipate.
3.
The Governor makes a number of points of particular interest:
the Hong Kong Government is in effect a minority one: it cannot automatically count on the support of more than the ten official members, although it has so far avoided defeat on all matters of importance.
the non-officials constitute an overwhelming majority on the LegCo Finance Committee, and thus have the power to frustrate any Government proposal which requires public expenditure.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.