TNAG-1722-FCO40-2415-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1988 — Page 178

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Job No. 166880′′

HANSARD/JUL14:06

1896

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL · 14 July 1988

move Bills on behalf of the executive. This is really following the present practice in the Finance Committee, where the ex officio government members are not given a vote.

Sir, I wish to say something about election by functional constituencies, as I have come from this route. This was introduced in September, 1985 as a first step towards democratisation. Since then, it has found favour with quite a lot of people in Hong Kong. But there are inherent drawbacks to this method of election. For it is likely that the members elected from the various functional constituencies will put the sectional interests of their constituencies above those of the community as a whole. And if a substantial number of the members of the legislature were to be elected by this method, then the legislature would become very loose or even fragmented. And it would also reduce the efficiency of the government.

One.ready indicator to show the unfairness of this method of election is that so many of our very able people in Hong Kong who are well-educated, intelligent, and who have contributed so much to our vibrant economy are still without a vote bank managers, managers in large international as well as local incorporations, entrepreneurs, experienced secretaries and some pro- fessionals. Indeed, these are the very people who are leaving Hong Kong in great numbers. For if we do not allow them to vote with their hands, they vote with their feet.

I therefore disagree with the hon. Mrs. Selina Cнow that 75 per cent of the legislature of the HKSAR should come from this route. The more senior Members of this Council will remember how difficult and how utterly illogical it was for the Legislative Council to decide in 1985 on the nine functional constituencies that we have today. And Members of this Council will recall how very difficult it was for us to decide on the two additional functional con- stituency seats for elections in September this year. This was so because it is basically dividious for us to decide which particular functional constituency is `more important to our community than the others; and comparions are odious.

For these reasons, I do not believe that we should add to the number of seats via the functional constituency route at all. It was intended to be a first step forward, and the final destination as to be universal adult suffrage for all the seats of the legislature of the HKSAR.

Conclusion

Sir, from my experience acquired during three years of meetings of the BLDC, I fear that the CPG and the people of Hong Kong may have a totally different understanding on some of the key provisions of the Joint Declaration. Now that these differences are manifested in the draft Basic Law, many people in Hong Kong, including Members of this Council, have expressed the view that some of the articles of the draft Basic Law contravene the Joint Declaration. In these circumstances, I hope the leaders of China will be sympathetic to the people of

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