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17 The Transitional Years in Hong Kong, 1992-9 7 Imentioned i n a previous chapter tha t whe n universa l suffrag e wa s given to all adults who registered their wish to vote, the system applied only to Municipal Councils and District Board elections, in spite of Britain's reputation a s the 'mother of democracy', the colonial power continued t o reject al l proposal s fo r electio n t o th e legislativ e body , th e Legislativ e Council. Bu t i n 1985 , nearly 15 0 years after colonizin g Hon g Kong , th e government introduce d a n outdate d elemen t i n electora l systems : a n electoral colleg e an d functiona l constituencies . B y that I am no t sayin g that these were bad systems, but they were no longer practised i n Europe. Of the total of 57 seats, 12 were elected by an electoral college system (1 0 from Distric t Board s and 2 from Municipa l Councils). A furthe r 1 2 were elected to the Council by functional bodie s such as the General Chambe r of Commerce , labou r union s an d professionals . Th e remainin g 3 2 seat s consisted of 22 government appointees and 1 0 civil servants. In Western eyes, this was not a democratic system, but no complaint s were expresse d b y thos e wh o late r wer e quic k t o condem n an y change s made by China if they did not conform with Western ideas on democracy. After a survey was carried ou t by the colonia l government, w e were tol d that ther e was 'little support for direct elections', but a promise was made that a t th e nex t elections , i n 1988 , there would be some directly electe d seats. Th e aim , w e wer e told , wa s a gradua l step-by-ste p approac h t o democracy, which would be in conformity with China's Basic Law for Hong Kong, which was to be enacted by 1990. The government repeated its old 146 Colonial Hong Kong in the Eyes of Elsie Tu policy of safeguarding Hon g Kong's stability an d prosperit y b y ruling ou t direct elections. This point should be noted carefully, a s it was later to be overturned a t th e las t momen t b y the colonia l governmen t tha t ha d fo r over a century use d 'stabilit y an d prosperity ' a s an excus e for makin g n o progress in democracy. Having promised some directly elected seats in the 198 8 election, th e government renege d o n tha t promise , givin g th e excus e tha t th e perio d since the 198 5 elections had not been long enough to consider any furthe r changes, and that it was better to wait until the Basic Law had been finalized in early 1990 . It would be necessary, said the government, to base its next move on the Basic Law. Personally I agree tha t democrac y introduce d ste p b y step i s alway s more likel y to succeed tha n a sudden plunge int o radical reforms (Russi a being a good example of a sudden and tragic plunge). What I disliked was the hypocrisy i n Britain's claim to be maintaining stability and prosperit y and her wish to keep in line with the Basic Law, in view of the actions of the next governor during the transition period 1992 to 1997. That governor, Chris Patten, tried to rush in a system that broke almost every constitutional article i n the Basic Law and, by doing so, showed no concern at all about the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. In 1994, only three years before the transition , havin g alway s maintaine d tha t democrac y shoul d b e evolutionary rather than revolutionary, the British government, using every trick in the political book, forced throug h a reform package that smashe d all previous agreements with China. Had it not been for the moderate and level-headed actions of China, that step by Britain could have destabilized Hong Kong . Th e handfu l o f loca l resident s wh o...

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