16 MAR-1993 17:35
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS BR
+ 852 840 1976 P.02
- 3
This
includes a
Council.
provision (Clause XXI(2)(b)) that the senior ex-officio Member present shall preside where both the President and the President's deputy are absent. Recently, the non-official LegCo Members suggested to the Administration that the Council be given maximum flexibility to determine, through its Standing Orders, the stand-in arrangements as the Council sees fit.
We can
suggestion.
an
no
see
no objection to LegCo Members' It follows logically from there being elected LegCo Presidency, and is in line with one of the themes of the Governor's policy address last October, i.e. that LegCo should be left free to run its own business. As we see it, there are constitutional reasons why Clause XXI(2)(b) ought to be retained until 1995, it being no more than a long stop provision. Its deletion will not in any way affect the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature, or the status of
the three ex-officio Members. The deletion does
not, of course, preclude LegCo Members from including in the Standing Orders a provision enabling the senior ex-officio Members present to preside at a LegCo meeting under certain circumstances, but this will be for Members
themselves to decide (as provided for in the new Clause XXIII(2)).
Given the above, we believe that the deletion of Clause XXI(2), and consequentially Clauses XXI(3) and (5), should come into operation on the date of
gazettal. By the same token, the new Clause
Clause XXIII(2) should be brought into play also on the date of gazettal.
XIX(b) and
TOTAL P.02.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.