Job No. 166880
HANSARD//JULT3:10
1852
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 13 July 1988
overshoot its useful purpose, and end up as a stumbling block to effective and efficient administration.
It is therefore of paramount importance that the Chief Executive and his administration must enjoy the support and confidence of a majority of the legislature, so that government policies, while exposed to public debate, criticism and censure, can retain initiative and control while at all times taking in public views.
It follows therefore that the Chief Executive is best voted into office by a majority of legislators, who will hopefully apply the two equally important criteria of political sensitivity and administrative competence in arriving at their choice.
Critics of this concept have argued that such a method of election may give rise to the need to form political parties, which in turn will breed confrontation and instability. Such proponents ignore the fact that Hong Kong has progressed past the age of unorganised political personnel and activities. What we have are political parties in their infancy, exercising a significant degree of control and discipline on their members. They have clearly identifiable leaders, they cut across district boundaries, and straddle the different levels of unofficial presence in government.
There is no escape from it. In any case, once you go the election route, there has got to be organisation. In fact, it would be more risky not to have organisation, for without organisation there will be no strength, no discipline. no responsibility. To design a governmental structure with the assumption that no political parties, whatever they call themselves, will exist in 1997 is neither wise nor realistic. To circumvent that status quo by building into the system a complex and unusual entity called the grand electoral college renders the system even more unwieldy and difficult to understand, particularly for the public at large. Whatever system we adopt must be easily comprehened and simple to operate if we want as many people as possible to have enough confidence to participate in it, as either candidates or voters.
If one accepts my argument that in order to have an effective and efficient administration, the Chief Executive must enjoy the support of the majority of the legislature, then the next question must be how the legislature should be formed.
In the present draft of the Basic Law, I again find it difficult to detect the rationale behind the alternatives, except a reluctance to introduce universal suffrage across the board.
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At least there is consensus that given our history and the crucial importance of our economic strength, Hong Kong's political system should operate on the principle of balance of interests and economic contribution, rather than on simple head count. Many believe that the huge economic success of Hong Kong today is due to the professional and efficient running of the Hong Kong Inc. If
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