TNAG-1727-FCO40-2440-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 242

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worsen. Sir, the Administration should, I still believe, introduce

direct elections in 1988 to Legislative Council; the White Paper proposal for direct elections in 1991 can be introduced in 1988. and in 1991, we should have an even more open proposal to extend the number of seats of direct election to each District Board. In fact, we have sufficient seats in this Chamber to accommodate

more members so there should be no ground for Government's worry.

Sir, the Administration has frequently broken its promises and distorted public opinion, I am afraid that no matter what beautiful things the Government will say in the future, the residents will simply take them as noise nuisances

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MR CHENG:

Sir, I support the White Paper on the development of representative Government; The Way Forward', For the major points covered in the White Paper, in particular on the key issue of direct elections, coincide with my views and principles

While there are divided views within my constituency regarding the

timing of the introduction of direct elections, we nevertheless

share a common view that direct elections should eventually be

conducted to form part of the election system in our legislature.

This is in line with the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration

and would prepare Hong Kong for a smooth transition in 1997 when China regains sovereignty over the Territory. Sir, last July when I delivered my speech on the Green Paper on the 1987 Review of Developments in representative Government, I queried the wisdom of introducing sweeping changes to our present system of

representative government, which has been in operation for a mere two years. I then said (and I quote) "I am also opposed to making major changes to a system which has not been adequately. tested". And indeed, as reflected in the White Paper, two years is an abnormally short testing/time in such a significant area,

area which will have far-reaching consequences on the future of Hong Kong and on the livelihood of its people. I therefore