TNAG-2210-FCO40-3170-Future-of-Hong-Kong-political-parties-1991 — Page 84

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Mr Burns

HAD

From:

Date:

Cc:

KAM Saunders

Hong Kong Department

7 March 1991

Mr Paul

Miss Marsden

Mr Stone

Thankyou, 243 10/3

USE OF LOGOS BY POLITICAL GROUPS IN HONG KONG

1.

You have asked why it was that the Hong Kong Government has refused to allow the use of logos by political groups contesting the LegCo elections in September, a fact about which LDF member Philip Wong complained during his visit to London last month. We have had to revert to Hong Kong twice in order to elucidate this matter.

2.

It seems the position is as follows: firstly, there is no general prohibition on the use of logos by political groups during the election campaign. However, they are not going to be allowed on the actual ballot papers. In a Legco debate last November, Martin Lee proposed that information about a candidate's political affiliation should be included on the ballot paper.

The Government did not support this proposal on the grounds (i) that political parties were still in too embryonic a state; (ii) that the similarity of their names would be more likely to confuse than to clarify the minds of the electors; and (iii) that many candidates would be standing as independents. The Government appears to think that the use of logos on the ballot papers would have similar disadvantages.

3. I do not, myself, find these arguments very persuasive. I suspect that the Government's decision may have been influenced by the fact that the suggestion to indicate party affiliation on the ballot papers came from Martin Lee, and that his party, being the best organised at the time, would have seemed most likely to benefit from it. But if other parties such as the LDF also favour indicating a candidate's political affiliation in this way, it seems likely that these regulations will eventually be changed.

K. Saunders

KAM Saunders (Miss)

HUGACR

VAS

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