ENG-1995 — Page 28

2 CONSTITUTION

AND ADMINISTRATION

Elections in 1995

Elections for the Urban Council and the Regional Council (collectively known as the municipal councils) were held on March 5, 1995, and 560 000 electors turned out to vote. This surpassed the voter turnout in all previous rounds of elections for the municipal councils. The overall turnout rate was 25.8 per cent, compared with the 23.1 per cent achieved in the last elections in 1991.

The Legislative Council elections held on September 17, 1995, were a milestone in Hong Kong's history. For the first time, the Legislative Council was wholly elected: 20 members by geographical constituencies, 30 by functional constituencies, and 10 by an Election Committee. They attracted 138 candidates altogether, which was the most ever. A record number of 920 000 people voted in the geographical elections. In terms of absolute number, over 170 000 more people voted than in 1991, representing a growth of 23 per cent. In percentage terms, the turnout rate was 35.8 per cent, compared with 39.1 per cent in 1991. The turnout rate has to be seen against a substantially greater number of registered electors: 2.57 million in 1995 compared with 1.92 million in 1991. Indeed, the 35.8 per cent turnout achieved on September 17 was the highest amongst the three sets of elections in 1994/95 (33.1 per cent for the September 1994 district board elections and 25.8 per cent for the March 1995 municipal councils elections).

The functional constituency elections also had a record turnout of 460 000, representing a 40.4 per cent turnout rate. The nine new broad-based functional constituencies, which represented the entire working population, accounted for more than 417 000 votes. The other 21 functional constituencies, with expanded franchise, attracted a voter turnout of 43 000, which was 20 100 or 87.7 per cent more than in 1991. All but one of the 283 electors (who were themselves elected district board members) voted in the Election Committee election.

With the conclusion of the 1995 Legislative Council elections, the electoral system established through an open and fair process has been firmly put in place. A strong foundation for our representative institutions has been laid.

General

Hong Kong is administered by the Hong Kong Government, which is headed by the Governor. The Governor is the representative of the Queen in Hong Kong. He has the ultimate direction of the administration of Hong Kong. An Executive Council offers advice to the Governor on important matters of policy.

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