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Sir, the fact is and this is endorsed by many members' speeches
today, that the Survey Office report clearly shows a sharp division
of opinion on the question of timing, and nothing that Mr. Lee has
said this afternoon has altered that reality. It was on that basis therefore/ that the Executive Council recommended to the Governor that direct elections should be introduced in 1991. The decisions
which stemmed from that advice are in the White Paper.
Sir, those who continue to campaign strongly for the introduction
of direct elections since the publication of the Survey Office report/ have tried to justify their actions either by trying to cast doubt on the integrity of the Survey Office, or by suggesting
that whatever the survey report had contained, the Administration
would not have introduced direct elections in 1988 because to do
so would have displeased China. Sir, there is not one shred of evidence to support these arguments; I refute them, and they are, I suggest, unworthy of those who continue to put them forward.
Sir, the Government has made an irrevocable commitment to the
introduction of téй directly elected seats into this Council in
1991. Surely the time has come to look forward positively and
enthusiastically to that major step forward in Hong Kong's political development. If we regret today that seats will not be introduced in 1988, how long are we expected to go on regretting that decision? Will the banners outside this building be changed later this year to demand direct elections in 1989, and will they be changed
annually thereafter until 1991?
Of course, we do not question the right of individuals to speak
their minds openly and forcefully and to campaign for the support of others, but all campaigns, Sir, by definition are aimed at influencing a decision. When the point of decision comes in any democratic society, the view of the majority must be accepted and respected. Sir, I suggest that time has come. Hong Kong has not built its success on looking backwards or regretting what might have been; we are a forward-looking community in a forward-looking
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