TNAG-1727-FCO40-2440-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 200

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made a step forward in developing representative government in Hong

Kong.

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Thus in 1985, the

The introduction of 10 directly elected seats to the

Legislative Council in 1991 is an advancement. In a free and open

society, those in power must listen and collect all the comments

and views from different sectors of the community before the

implementation of any government policies. Opinions from the

district level of course is essential.

Government proposed that 10 seats in the Legislative Council should

be filled by members elected from the District Board electoral

college in order to strengthen participation from district level.

The concept is correct. But even at that time, many political

commentators criticized the proposal and pointed out the abuses

Legislative Council that might arise if LegCo Members were to be elected from the

electoral college. The White Paper now proposed to replace the

electoral college seats by direct elected seats in order to enlist

persons experienced in district affairs to the Legislative

Council.

Theoretically, this is a more progressive and logical

proposal.

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However, some people harp on the argument that the

Government is not respecting the District Boards and lash out at

the proposals. After thorough examination, I think their argument

lacks the support of a well-considered logical basis.

Furthermore,

such comments dwell on emotion of the people. I believe its main

aim is to stir up troubles and trigger off District Board members'

resentment against the Government so that the aim of creating