TNAG-2011-FCO40-2863-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-composition-of-the-d-1990 — Page 4

We consider that the appointed element could be reduced to 25% of the total membership in the respective municipal councils without significant loss in its effectiveness, although some shift of power within the councils in favour of the elected members would be inevitable. This would provide an opportunity to increase the number of elected members of the Urban Council from 15 to 20, and of the Regional Council from 12 to 15, thus continuing the gradual movement towards more representative government. We therefore propose that the composition of the two municipal

councils in 1991 should be as follows

Urban Council

20 directly elected

(plus five)

10 DB representatives

10 appointed (minus five)

Total:

40 members

Regional Council

15 directly elected

(plus three)

9 DB representatives 9 appointed (minus three) 3 ex-officio (Heung Yee Kuk)

36 members

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If these proposals are accepted, sections 6 of the Urban Council Ordinance (Chapter 101) and the Regional Council Ordinance (Chapter 385) would need amendment to provide for the new composition of the two municipal councils in 1991. Urban Council and Regional Council electoral boundaries would also need to be changed to accommodate the increased number of directly elected seats,

and to reflect shifts in population distribution. Section 3 of the Electoral Provisions Ordinance (Chapter 367) already empowers the Governor in Council to declare any area in Hong Kong to be a constituency for the purpose of election to the municipal councils.

Draft legislation and proposals for new constituency boundaries would be submitted to the Council in due course.

Developments after 1991

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The proposals in paragraphs 9 and 12 leave

open the question of the composition of the municipal councils and the district boards in 1995.

If these proposals are accepted, the proportion of appointed membership on the district boards and municipal councils will be one third and one quarter respectively. We regard this as being about the minimum level needed to sustain an effective appointed membership. A decision will therefore needto be taken nearer to 1995 as to whether all appointed seats in the district boards and the municipal councils should be replaced by directly elected seats in 1995. We propose that this decision should be taken after the major constitutional and electoral changes to be introduced in 1991 have been implemented, and their effects carefully assessed.