TNAG-1880-FCO40-2671-Student-demonstrations-and-internal-political-situation-in-C-1989 — Page 101

The Group of 89, having made known its position in the

Legislative Council, issued a statement on 26 May stating that in view

of the recent events in China which had evoked strong repercussions among Hong Kong people, the proposal of the Group of 39 had to be reviewed

in order to speed up the democratization of the political structure of the

SAR.

The Group of 89 also suggested to defer the drafting of and the

consultation on the Basic Law because they considered it inadvisable to

make any hasty decision on the Basic Law. They were of the opinion that

Hong Kong should first wait till the situation in Beijing had calmed down

and the political picture had become clearer; and second, wait for the

other strata of the society to make their response, and to arrive at a

consensus.

The awareness of democracy of Hong Kong people is greatly enhanced after the student movement in Beijing. Hence, the pace of direct election in the legislature will also be speeded up.

But the way

in which the legislature and the executive authorities coordinate and

provide checks and balances to one another in the political structure

has yet to be worked out. Some people have proposed that a certain number of the seats in the Executive Council should be occupied by members of the Legislative Council and heads of certain government departments

can also sit on the Legislative Council so as to promote the link between the executive authorities and the legislature. Moreover, members of the Legislative Council may also take up the No. 1 and ho. 2 positions of

certain advisory committees.

As regards the selection of the Chief Executive, it should be

a rational process based on democracy and conforming to the Sino-British

Joint Declaration.

It

It seems that people in the industrial and commercial sectors,

the leftists and the middle-of-the-roaders will revise their stand and

demand for a speed-up in the pace of democracy. But the extent to which democratization should be speeded up has to be carefully considered.

is because the momentary enthusiasm of the masses may not be able to

solve the long-term management problem of Hong Kong. The main crux of the matter in fact lies in the abolition of functional constituencies