ENG-1985 — Page 42

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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Following the elections, a number of changes in district board administration were introduced with effect from April 1. These changes included the creation of a district board to serve Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island, which increased the total number of boards to 19. The district boards were also given greater management responsibilities for municipal facilities and services as well as for community centres.

The size of the elected element in district boards was increased in 1985 to 237 seats compared with 132 for appointed members. The officials ceased to be board members but continued to be in regular attendance at board meetings to receive advice, present papers, answer questions and give explanations. A related change was that whereas district boards were previously chaired by district officers, members elected their own chairmen at the first post-election meetings.

As part of the development of representative government, the district board electoral colleges elected 10 members to the enlarged Legislative Council. This, together with the other changes described above, has enabled the boards to become even more effective in serving the interests of residents and in reflecting their views to the central government.

Links with the Urban Council, Regional Council and the Heung Yee Kuk All Urban Councillors sit on district boards. Elected councillors are ex-officio members of the boards of the districts in which their constituencies lie and appointed councillors are assigned to the various boards. The Regional Council will have a different direct link with the boards in its area of operation as each district board has a right to elect a representative member to the council. But in both regions stronger links than mere cross-membership are necessary and district boards are consulted on a wide range of council matters affecting them. The Regional Council, moreover, will establish special district committees which will include district board members to which it will likely delegate operational responsibilities at district level for many of its functions. In the urban areas, the Urban Council is cultivating a closer relationship with the boards through regular meetings with groups of district board chairmen. The Regional Council will also have a formal link with the Heung Yee Kuk through the ex-officio membership of the chairman and the two vice-chairmen on the council. Initially, three of its appointed members will also be chosen from members of the kuk to ensure a strong relationship with the traditional inhabitants of the New Territories.

Electoral System for the Urban Council, Regional Council and District Boards Elections to the Urban Council, Regional Council and district boards are on a constituency basis and through a broad franchise. Practically everyone who is 21 years of age or over and who is a Hong Kong belonger, or has been resident in Hong Kong for the preceding seven years, is eligible to apply for registration as an elector in the constituency in which he lives. Registration of new electors is conducted on a voluntary basis annually between August and September. The registration exercise for 1985 resulted in an addition of 20 149 new electors. At the end of the year, there were 1 441 540 electors, representing 47 per cent of an estimated total potential electorate of three million. Of these electors, 998 177 are resident in the urban areas and are entitled to vote at Urban Council elections and at district board elections in the urban areas; the remaining 443 363 are resident in non-urban areas and are entitled to vote at district board elections in non-urban areas and at the Regional Council elections in March 1986 (when the next Urban Council elections will also be held).

For district board elections, there are altogether 145 constituencies in the 19 districts - 83 constituencies in the 10 urban districts and 62 constituencies in the nine non-urban districts. For Urban Council elections, there are 15 constituencies, each covering an area made up