Transcript of Chief Secretary's media session

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Following is the transcript of the English portion of the media session given by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, at the opening of Route 3 (Country Park section), today (Monday):

Mrs Chan: I would just like to say that we are very much encouraged by the record voter turnout yesterday, despite the very, very bad weather conditions. For this election, the Government has devoted considerable manpower and other resources to explaining the election procedures and how voters should cast their vote, and to encourage a maximum voter turnout. And I think you can all see the results.

I think yesterday is a proud day, not only for the Government but for the entire community. But, of course, in addition to government efforts, the most important thing after this election is that it is a demonstration that the people of Hong Kong care about the future development of democratic institutions, that Hong Kong people are ready and willing to exercise a high degree of autonomy, and to make Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong even more effective. And so, I think, in the whole process of the evolution of representative government, we have if anything, now an even firmer foundation.

I want, also, to particularly say that yesterday's election, because of the inclement weather many government departments helped to facilitate registered voters to go and cast their vote, and I want to particularly praise the efforts of all government departments. This is an excellent beginning.

Reporter: Chief Secretary, you spoke, yesterday, about the importance of a representative Council holding the Government to account. Would you be in any way disappointed if a party or group of parties which obtained the largest number of votes in the geographical constituencies, did not obtain a corresponding proportion of seats in the overall Legislature?

Mrs Chan: As I have made clear on many occasions, and I stress this again, the Government does not have a view on which party should have a majority, say, in LegCo. The responsibility of the Government is to conduct elections to the Legislature in a fair, impartial and open manner, so that the community can exercise their choice - whether they want to be represented by members of a political party or another political party.

Yesterday's election to the first Legislature of the SAR Government is, in my view, a beginning. Next year we will be having elections to the district organisations, that is to the district boards and the municipal councils. And the year following, we will be having elections to the second Legislature. During this period the Government will continue its efforts to raise political awareness amongst the community, to allow political leaders to come to the fore, and to prepare the community for responsible government under an elected Legislature.

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Note:

Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.

End/Monday, May 25, 1998

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