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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 14 July 1988
the Chief Executive and members of the legislature. After the double filtering process of appointment and preparation, the last step is election-but, can that still be called election? Even behind the double veils of preparation and consultational election, we can still clearly see the visible hand that has a decisive influence and this of course does not comply with the concepts of 'Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong' or 'a high degree of autonomy'.
To base election on appointment and preparation is worse than indirect election. It is only indirect appointment and the legislature so produced will contravene the Joint Declaration.
Through such an organisation procedure, how much democracy will we be able to achieve? Only the Standing Committee of the NPC and a small number of Hong Kong people who are appointed or indirectly appointed will be able to participate. Over half of the members of the preparatory committee are Hong Kong people. The proportion by which the election committee is formed becomes therefore meaningless-they are only there for show. This does not comply with the principle of joint and democratic participation.
The election committee is manipulated by the visible hand. From it comes the Chief Executive and all members of the legislature. In this way the legislature and the executive authorities in fact will breathe through the same nostril. On top of that, judges of the court of Final Appeal and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may be appointed or removed by the Chief Executive with the consent of the Legislative Council. And therefore, we have a Chief Executive and a legislature that breathes through the same nostril, and that definitely will influence the independence of the Judiciary-and that of course does not comply with the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances.
The first Chief Executive and the first legislature: the former is for five years, and the letter for two years. One long, one short; one normal, one abnormal-- and this is indeed very puzzling. If we really want to solve the mystery, then perhaps we can deduce in this way. Since incumbent Legislative Councillors can become candidates for the first legislature, so even though the visible hand can control everything, if every incumbent Legislative Councillor must go, then it does not look too good, and that is why some must remain for show. Yet they cannot be allowed to stay for too long, and that is the reason why they have had to be changed after two short years. How else can we explain the proposal?
So, when we talk about exercise of sovereignty with such an alternative it means nothing but the manifestation of a decision for power and when we talk about smooth transition it is nothing but the mentality that when one runs the show and is in control, then one's mind will be at ease.
When we discussed the Green Paper on Representative Government, and then the White Paper, we heard much about the theory of covergence. It was definitely loud. Now, we have people who agreed with that theory. They are now looking at this alternative in Annex III-why are they now suddenly so
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