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the present political climate of Hong Kong, indirect election by the 'electoral college' and 'functional constituencies' is not practical. It will hamper the process of democratization and reduce the people's opportunities in participating in politics to absorb the necessary experience. Meanwhile, the system of appointment can be continued until 1988 when it should be replaced by direct election step by step. The final aim is to introduce direct election for the whole LegCo before 1997.
It is not sufficient to allocate two months of consultation period to the Green Paper. It should be extended to the end of September after the agreement is initialled and announced, so that the public may, in their discussion and deliberation, make references to the content of and objectives manifested in the agreement. Moreover, there is no guidance for the people of Hong Kong to discuss the political reforms in the context of the post 1997 development of 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong'. Therefore, the period of consultation should be extended to at least one month after the agreement is initialled and announced.
The development of representative government should not be restricted to the 13 years of transition. It should go beyond the limit of 1997. A long-termed and pragmatic political infrastructure should be built up which is capable of achieving 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong with high degree of democracy and autonomy'. Only in this way can we develop a system of government the authority for which is firmly rooted in Hong Kong, which is able to represent authoritatively the views of the people of Hong Kong, and which is more directly accountable to the people of Hong Kong.
Now the government should take steps to strengthen public education in political participation, in order to better equip the people of Hong Kong for the direct election for LegCo in 1988. With the experience of direct participation and education, people's political sense will be maintained after 1997, paving the way for fifty years of prosperity and stability'.
With these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman,
Conservative and Moderate Political Reforms
Following the publication of the 'Green Paper: A Pattern of District Administration in Hong Kong' in 1980, direct elections to the District Boards were held in 1982, and the first Urban Council elections on a constituency basis in 1983. Next year, with the setting up of the Regional Council and the newly added Kwai Chung District Board, the number of councillors at district and regional levels should total more than four hundred, two thirds of whom are directly elected. The Green Paper on representative government which we discuss today proposes to have six of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council elected by an electoral college composed of Urban Council, new
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Regional Council and District Board (there will be nineteen of them) members. These indirect elections allow, on the whole, indirect representation of all the voters, and such indirect elections by geographical constituencies will prevent adversary politics which might cause the breaking up of our society. Another advantage of 'indirect elections is that candidates elected by the electoral college are likely to have acquired certain experience at regional or district levels or have had good performance in community service. The number of unofficial members to be elected by the electoral college is, however, too small. I think it should be increased to at least twelve in the elections first held in 1985.
The Green Paper also proposes to have another six of the unofficial members elected by functional constituencies. The government does not specify which professions are to be included in these functional constituencies, only citing commerce, industry, the medical profession, the legal profession, educational institutions, financial sector and labour organizations as examples, and no mention is made of those industries of tourism and hotels which are earning for Hong Kong large sums of foreign exchange, and those professionals who have helped solve problems of housing, etc. in our community. In order to have ample representation of the major functional constituencies, I consider there should be at least twelve such seats. Basically, the idea of functional constituencies is not very different from the present appointed system, and will ensure the continuation of participation by 'good talents' and 'professionals' in government. Those elected by functional constituencies represent and have the support of their voters and will make use of their talents to serve the society. The twenty-four unofficial members elected by the electoral college and the functional groups together with the twenty-three appointed and thirteen official members will make up a total membership of sixty. Some may think that it is too large. But up to now, all Urban Council, District Board, Legislative Council and Executive Council members are part-time councillors who have occupations of their own. Unless we have in future full-time politicians, sixty part-time councillors are only barely enough to cope with the heavy workload of the Legislative Council.
The main functions of the indirect elections proposed in the Green Paper are to safeguard to a certain extent the structure and distribution of power of the present government, on which the masses will not be able to exert political pressure directly as in the case of direct elections when candidates elected 'have to be responsible to the voters'. In this way the efficient functioning of government will be continued and stability maintained. Indirect elections may also have 'sieving' effects which would reduce the possibility of radicals being elected to the Legislative Council.
Undeniably, the political reforms proposed in the Green Paper are rather conservative and step by step. At this historic moment in Hong Kong, the government and people should unite together to preserve a stable, progressive and prosperous society while at the same time searching for a form of
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134
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
the present political climate of Hong Kong, indirect election by the 'electoral college' and 'functional constituencies' is not practical. It will hamper the process of democratization and reduce the people's opportunities in participat- ing in politics to absorb the necessary experience. Meanwhile, the system of appointment can be continued until 1988 when it should be replaced by direct election step by step. The final aim is to introduce direct election for the whole LegCo before 1997.
It is not sufficient to allocate two months of consultation period to the Green Paper. It should be extended to the end of September after the agreement is initialled and announced, so that the public may, in their discussion and deliberation, make references to the content of and objectives manifested in the agreement. Moreover, there is no guidance for the people of Hong Kong to discuss the political reforms in the context of the post 1997 development of 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong'. Therefore, the period of consultation should be extended to at least one month after the agreement is initialled and announced.
The development of representative government should not be restricted to the 13 years of transition. It should go beyond the limit of 1997. A long-termed and pragmatic political infrastructure should be built up which is capable of achieving 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong with high degree of democracy and autonomy'. Only in this way can we develop a system of government the authority for which is firmly rooted in Hong Kong, which is able to represent authoritatively the views of the people of Hong Kong, and which is more directly accountable to the people of Hong Kong.
Now the government should take steps to strengthen public education in political participation, in order to better equip the people of Hong Kong for the direct election for LegCo in 1988. With the experience of direct participation and education, people's political sense will be maintained after 1997, paving the way for fifty years of prosperity and stability'.
With these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman,
Conservative and Moderate Political Reforms
Following the publication of the 'Green Paper: A Pattern of District Administration in Hong Kong' in 1980, direct elections to the District Boards were held in 1982, and the first Urban Council elections on a constituency basis in 1983. Next year, with the setting up of the Regional Council and the newly added Kwai Chung District Board, the number of councillors at district and regional levels should total more than four hundred, two thirds of whom are directly elected. The Green Paper on representative government which we discuss today proposes to have six of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council elected by an electoral college composed of Urban Council, new
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 85 of 233
135
Regional Council and District Board (there will be nineteen of them) members. These indirect elections allow, on the whole, indirect' representation of all the voters, and such indirect elections by geographical constituencies will prevent adversary politics which might cause the breaking up of our society. Another advantage of 'indirect elections is that candidates elected by the clectoral likely to have acquired certain experience at regional or district levels college are or have had good performance in community service. The number of unofficial members to be elected by the electoral college is, however, too small. I think it should be increased to at least twelve in the elections first held in 1985.
The Green Paper also proposes to have another six of the unofficial members elected by functional constituencies. The government does not specify which professions are to be included in these functional constituencies, only citing commerce, industry, the medical profession, the legal profession, educational institutions, financial sector and labour organizations as examples, and no mention is made of those industries of tourism and hotels which are earning for Hong Kong large sums of foreign exchange, and those professionals who have helped solve problems of housing, etc. in our community. In order to have ample representation of the major functional constituencies, I consider there should be at least twelve such seats. Basically. the idea of functional constituencies is not very different from the present appointed system, and will ensure the continuation of participation by 'good talents' and 'professionals' in government. Those elected by functional constituencies represent and have the support of their voters and will make use of their talents to serve the society. The twenty-four unofficial members elected by the electoral college are the functional groups together with the twenty-three appointed and thirteen official members will make up a total membership of sixty. Some may think that it is too large. But up to now, all Urban Council, District Board, Legislative Council and Executive Council members are part-time councillors who have occupa- tions of their own. Unless we have in future full-time politicians, sixty part-time councillors are only barely enough to cope with the heavy workload of the Legislative Council.
The main functions of the indirect elections proposed in the Green Paper are to safeguard to a certain extent the structure and distribution of power of the present government, on which the masses will not be able to exert political pressure directly as in the case of direct elections when candidates elected ‘have to be responsible to the voters'. In this way the efficient functioning of government will be continued and stability maintained. Indirect elections may also have 'sieving' effects which would reduce the possibility of radicals being elected to the Legislative Council.
Undeniably, the political reforms proposed in the Green Paper are rather conservative and step by step. At this historic moment in Hong Kong, the government and people should unite together to preserve a stable, progressive and prosperous society while at the same time searching for a form of
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