TNAG-1724-FCO40-2437-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 73

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thirdly, that the number of members elected by

functional constituencies will be increased by

two, that is to say, from 12 to 14; and

finally, that the number of members elected by

the electoral college will remain unchanged.

Sir,

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expand deciding to

the

a

functional

constituency system in 1988, the government has noted that the system has worked well since its introduction in 1985

and that public response to the Green Paper showed wide

伦

人 support for developing it further. There was a large

response from groups and associations seeking

representation through the functional constituency system

and it has been a difficult task to decide which

additional groups should be represented. In theory, it

would be possible to expand the system indefinitely, but a

gradual approach suggests that we should not move too far

too fast. For this reason, the proposals in the White

Paper envisage the expansion of two existing functional

constituencies to include professional groups with closely

related interests, rather than the creation of additional

new constituencies.