TNAG-2456-FCO40-3577-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-presentation-1992 — Page 125

07-OCT-1992 17:26

1992-10-07 22:13 G.1.5

Former BLDC member and HK affairs adviser for China Liu Yiu-chu pointed out that the part in the policy address concerning the Election Committee contravened the Basic Law.

Britain: Prime Minister John Major had issued a statement expressing full support for, and agreement with, Mr Patten's policy address, which he said represented "the best way forward for HK". The Chairman of the British-HK Parliamentary Group, Timothy Renton, said that the Governor's proposed constitutional reforms had not violated the Basic Law nor the Joint Declaration. He said that Parliament and the British Cabinet would give full support to the Governor's policy address.

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Governor: ATV-World's main newscast carried the Governor's reaction to NCNA's statement. Mr Patten said if he had stated in the policy address today that he would not tell the public anything about the proposals on

there the 1995 polls until an agreement had been reached with Paking, would have been outrage in the community. He added that he was not inventing the fact that the Government had got to have now proposals on the nine new functional constituencies and the Election Committee. They were all stipularad in the Basic Law.

In a live interview with BBC Asia screened on Star TV, Mr Patten was asked if China had a veto over his policy address. He said no but added that he would discuss with China and hoped to get China's agreement.

Exco and Lexco members: Baroness Dunn described as "ambitious and vital" the Policy Address, saying that it set out the road ahead for HK over the next five years. She said that the separation of Exco and Legco was a sensible manoeuvre because Exco's role was to advise the Governor on important issues and members should take a non-political stance. The separation had clearly spelt out the decision-making role of Exco and the monitoring role of Legco.

Emily Lau said on R-3 that she was disappointed in the separation of Exco and Legco. She said that people should have a good reason to be appointed to Exco and the best reason was that they were elected by the people. She said that the Governor had to do this because China had said that there were some people who could not be put in Exco. The Basic Law had made no provision on Exco appointments, she said, and that this move was a blatant compromise. However, she noted that the policy address on the whole was a good start and that she welcomed the proposed expenses on social welfare and social security.

Hui Yin-fat welcomed the blueprint on social welfare but said that he was worried that its implementation would pose difficulty,

Martin Barrow said the policy address was a "very balanced" plan. He was glad that the govar or had placed much emphasis on economic development and improving efficiency of the civil service.

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