1992-01-02 12:30 INFORMATION SERVICES DEPT
852 521 7725 P. 10/13
He noted that prior to this announcement, open statements calling for a change of the Governor had had the tacit approval of Britain and Legco's powers had been so greatly inflated that some councillors even wanted to discuss and decide on the Legco committee system and the qualifications of the next Governor. To have a "lame-duck" governor who was awaiting retirement would mean that he could no longer make the decision on many issues and that he could do little to stop some radical changes from taking place. The arrangement was indeed a Flexible one under which the British Government could pass the buck to the people of HK and "return the administration to HK's Legco".
In conclusion, the writer said the clouds of uncertainties that would prevail in HK until the next general election in Britain was a bid by Britain to carry on its preparations for the retreat from HK and to test the bottomline of China.
Disagreeing with this "conspiracy" theory raised by the Wen Wei commentator, Ng Yee-man of the HK Economic Times noted that in view of the rumours on Sir David's stepping down, there could even be more uncertainties if the British Government made no announcement at this point of time.
Kevin Lau of the HK Economic Journal believed Sir David had to leave because the British Government was unhappy with his performance. This was probably because Sir David had been too much concerned with HK 's interests and Exco's views, resulting in a departure from the line of Britain. He believed the new Governor, whether chosen by the Tories or a Labour Government, would be preoccupied with British interests and there was a danger that he might have frictions with Exco, Legco and even the civil service, causing a constitutional crisis.
Ho Chi-man of Ming Pao
remarked that the interview given by the Governor to the two TV stations and one political commentator fully showed that the Government had a tight grip on what it wished to release to the media on important issues.
Yu Ming of the same paper maintained that the two information chiefs in the Government were caught unprepared by the sudden announcement of Sir David's retirement by Britain. He added that host Legeo members were unhappy that no successor had named,
In Ming Pao's op-ed page, Anthony Cheung of Meeting Point said it might be in the interest of HK to have Chinese Governor. NPC delegate Ng Hong-man said China would not wish to see this happen because of the "three-legged stool" theory. Cheung Ning however said there could still be a Chinese Governor for HK even though the next one would not be Chinese.
PRICE RISE
The Oriental Daily News said the government should keep down fee increases by public utilities and check property prices in the interests of the livelihood of the people. Sing Pao also expressed concern over inflation,
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