TNAG-2781-FCO40-4000-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-Chinese-reac-1993 — Page 84

12.9.93

Guo Fengmin"

13.9.93

Chinese sources quoted by Ming Pao and Sing Tao Daily

13.9.93

Ta Kung Pao editorial

13.9.93

CONFIDENTIAL

-'10 -

The coming JLG meetings will discuss issues relating to the civil service.

The arguments over civil service issues may affect agreements made over military land use and franchises straddling 1997.

Wen Wei Po

editorial

Under the British system, the civil service is to remain politically neutral and the British Government has never asked its employees to run in elections. Whether

civil servants should stand in elections is not part of the electoral arrangements for 1994/95. It should be raised in the JLG because it involves major changes to the existing civil service system.

The fact that civil servants can vote in functional constituency elections before does not mean that they can set up a functional seat for themselves. Civil servants should remain politically neutral to maintain the executive-led system. There will be a conflict of duties if civil servants are to monitor Government policies in the capacity of a legislator. Civil servants can reflect their views through the civil service councils or through their unions. In Legco, their interests are already represented by the two Legco members from the labour functional

constituency. Even the 1991 electoral laws stated clearly that civil servants cannot run for office unless they resign. The Government is in fact trying to bring in three major changes to the civil service

systems: 1. to turn civil servants from voters into candidates; 2. to make civil servants vote for a representative in their own functional seat rather than voting as a general member of the public and 3. to extend the influence of political parties among civil servants.

CONFIDENTIAL