TNAG-2168-FCO40-3105-House-of-Commons-Foreign-Affairs-Committee-inquiry-into-Hong-1990 — Page 166

Nahand People's

Caryna's

Basic Law does not contain such a provision though proposals for amendment which emanate from the SAR are required to have the prior consent of two thirds of the SAR's deputies to the NPE, two thirds of the members of the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive. No such prior consent is required for proposals for amendments which emanate from the Standing Committee or the State Council. However, the Basic Law does provide, as regards all proposals for amendment, that before any bill is put on the agenda of the National People's Congress, the Basic Law Committee to the SAR (half of the members of which, as noted in paragraph above, are to come from Hong Kong) shall study it and submit its views. The reference to "basic policies" in Article 159 reflects the reference in the Preamble where it is made clear that those are the policies elaborated in the Joint Declaration.

View

(low cau)

Actions within Hong Kong

Constitutional Development

11. The Committee recommended that full democracy should be introduced before 1997 and that, consistent with maintaining a necessary degree of continuity, should be introduced as soon as possible (paragraph 3.10). At the same time the Committee also took the View that Hong Kong people must be allowed to decide on their own system of government before as well as after 1997.

12. The Government's aim throughout has been to establish in Hong Kong before 1997 a system of government which includes a substantial element of democracy and which can endure and further develop after 1997. When the Joint Declaration was signed in 1984, there was no elected element of any kind in the legislature. Provision for 24 members to be indirectly elected from local government bodies and functional constituencies was made in 1985. In February 1988, the Hong Kong Government announced that a directly elected. element would be introduced for the first time in 1991 when 10 seats would be directly elected. It became clear subsequently that people in Hong Kong favoured a more rapid rate of progress as regards directly elected seats, while continuing to attach importance to a system which could endure and develop after 1997. The consensus which OMELCO reached in July 1989 about the right pace of constitutional development up to 1997 was in fact much less ambitious than the Committee's recommendation.

13. In order to achieve steady progression up to and beyond 1997, it was essential that the system introduced in 1991 should be developed and carried forward in the arrangements set out in the Basic Law. With that objective in mind, the Government entered into a series of tough discussions with the Chinese authorities about Hong Kong's future political development, stressing the importance of a more rapid process of democratisation than was envisaged in the second draft of the Basic Law and the need to ensure that the political system as a whole was one which Hong Kong people would find acceptable. On 16 February 1990 the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary announced the Government's intention to introduce 18 directly elected seats in 1991 and at least 20 in 1995. This is a substantially greater first step towards full democracy in Hong Kong than was planned two years ago. It is two seats less than the proposals put forward by OMELCO in July 1989 but significantly more than the 10 seats which were originally envisaged in 1988. As a result of the Government's representations and those of people in Hong Kong to the Chinese authorities, the final version of the Basic Law provides further progression from 1997 onwards, rising to 24 seats in 1999 and 30 seats (fifty per cent of the legislature the remainder being indirectly elected members) in 2003, with the possibility that full direct elections could be introduced in 2007. The Government hope that in time the Chinese Government will agree to accelerate the pace of democratisation.

14. Most people in Hong Kong welcome the fact that a clear direction has now been set and that a major uncertainty for the future of the territory has been removed. This reaction was reflected in the positive and forward-looking statement issued by OMELCO on 16 February. The community in Hong Kong recognise that their task now is to work together to make a success of the first direct elections in 1991 and to demonstrate that Hong Kong people can be trusted to exercise their responsibilities sensibly. This is seen as the best way of persuading the Chinese authorities that a faster pace of democratisation is both desirable and manageable.

5