ENG-1991 — Page 42

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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substantial connection with the relevant functional constituency. Apart from the municipal council functional constituencies, each nomination requires 10 subscribers. Only five subscribers are required for the municipal council constituencies because of the limited size of their electorate. A preferential elimination voting system is adopted for all functional constituencies.

Two sets of elections were held in September 1991. On September 12, 40 candidates stood for election to the 21 functional constituency seats. Twelve were elected unopposed. Of the 48 755 electors in the contested functional constituencies, 22 918 cast their votes, giving a turnout of 47 per cent.

In the geographical constituency elections held on September 15, 54 candidates received nomination for the 18 seats. All constituencies were contested, and 750 467 electors out of a total of 1 916 925 cast their votes, giving a turnout of 39.1 per cent.

Advisory Committees

The network of government boards and committees is a distinctive feature of the system of government which seeks to obtain, through consultation with interested groups in the community, the best possible advice on which to base decisions. Thus advisory bodies of one kind or another are found in nearly all government departments and quasi-government bodies. In general, advisory bodies may be divided into five categories: statutory bodies which give advice to a head of department (such as the Endangered Species Advisory Board); statutory bodies which give advice to the government (such as the Board of Education); non-statutory bodies which give advice to a head of department (such as the Labour Advisory Board), non-statutory bodies which give advice to the government (such as the Transport Advisory Committee), and committees which are executive in nature (such as the Hong Kong Examinations Authority).

Government officials and members of the public are represented on these committees. About 5 500 members of the public are appointed to serve on a total of 451 boards and committees, and some serve on more than one of these advisory bodies. These members are appointed in view of their specialist knowledge or expertise, or their record or interest in contributing to community service. Increasing importance has been attached to the contribution they make to the formulation and execution of government policies and, in order to utilise their potential to the full, the composition and effectiveness of these bodies are regularly monitored. Where appropriate, the government broadens the cross-section of representation and encourages an inflow of new ideas through a reasonable turnover of membership.

The Administration

Role of the Chief Secretary

The Chief Secretary advises the Governor on matters of policy, and is principally responsible for its implementation. He is head of the Public Service. The Chief Secretary, together with the Financial Secretary and the Attorney General, are the Governor's principal advisers.

The Chief Secretary exercises direction primarily as head of the Government Secretariat, the central organisation comprising the secretaries of the policy branches and resource branches and their staff. Since 1902, when the office of the Lieutenant-Governor lapsed, the Chief Secretary (or his predecessor, the Colonial Secretary) has deputised for the Governor