TNAG-2168-FCO40-3105-House-of-Commons-Foreign-Affairs-Committee-inquiry-into-Hong-1990 — Page 222

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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

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.

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

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.

As a

the

CATAAU (6)

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