Introduction

Following the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July 1997, the main tasks for my Bureau in 1998/99 are to ensure full and faithful implementation of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, to develop effective channels of communication with the Central People's Government and other Mainland authorities, and to ensure that arrangements for future elections for representative institutions are open, fair, honest and acceptable to the community.

Major Tasks

One of the paramount tasks for me and my colleagues is to ensure full and faithful implementation of the Basic Law. We accord high priority to promoting public awareness and understanding of the Basic Law. To step up the existing promotional efforts, we have established a Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee to provide the necessary steer on the overall programme and strategy for promoting the Basic Law and to co-ordinate the efforts of various parties concerned, both in the Government and in the community.

Another area of responsibility for my Bureau is to assume an overall co-ordinating role in managing contacts between the HKSAR Government and the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA Office). Our interface with the MFA Office has been effective, and we will endeavour to further develop and enhance our working relations in handling HKSAR's external affairs. So far as the development of communication channels with the Central People's Government is concerned, preparatory work for the establishment of an HKSAR Office in Beijing is underway. This will further strengthen our liaison and contacts with the Mainland authorities.

CAB is also responsible for conducting a review of the structure of district organizations and take forward the public consultation of this issue. Through the review, we hope to come up with a structure of district organizations which will improve administrative efficiency, ensure an effective system of public accountability, and proper allocation and use of public funds. We also hope to maintain public participation in community affairs in the exercise. An inter-departmental steering group has been set up to oversee the conduct of the review.

Electoral Issues

On the electoral front, our focus is the Legislative Council (LegCo) election scheduled for 24 May. Our task is to encourage as many eligible electors as possible to come out to vote, and to ensure that all the electoral arrangements are open, fair and acceptable to Hong Kong people. To achieve this, the REO will have a total allocation of $368.4 million in 1998/99 for all the preparatory work, including promotion, publicity and various practical arrangements. As regards the practical arrangements for the coming elections, the REO is actively planning and putting into place the necessary arrangements to ensure the smooth conduct of the coming elections, including the identification of polling stations, printing of poll cards and nomination forms, etc..

On publicity, we have already launched an intensive publicity campaign to urge registered voters to exercise their voting right at the coming Election Committee subsector elections on 2 April, and the LegCo election on 24 May. Honorable Members would have seen our announcements of public interest as well as posters and advertisements in prominent locations throughout the territory. Our publicity campaign will continue until the polling day for the LegCo elections on 24 May. There will be a series of publicity activities through various channels, including printed and electronic media, roving exhibitions and briefings etc. Our aim is to arouse an awareness of the coming election throughout the territory, and to urge all registered voters to cast their vote on the polling days.

Through these publicity activities, we will educate the public on the functions and composition of the LegCo, as well as the general features of the elections. We will familiarize them with the electoral and polling arrangements, especially the list voting system to be introduced for the first time for Geographical Constituency election. In our campaign, we will disseminate three messages to encourage voters to vote. (1) We will emphasize that all voters only need to visit a polling station near their home to cast a vote. (2) We will demonstrate that the functions of LegCo are closely related to the everyday life of Hong Kong people and casting their vote is a fulfilment of their civic right and responsibility. (3) It is a way to realize Hong Kong people running Hong Kong. All registered voters should participate in this historic event and elect their representatives to the legislature.

On 12 March, we will launch a series of roving exhibitions at major shopping arcades in the territory. These exhibitions will cover the main features of the LegCo election and the polling procedures demonstrated by videos and computer games. These roving exhibitions will be supplemented by smaller-scale mobile exhibitions at district level to reach a wider audience. Publicity will also be made through announcement of public interests on television and radio, advertisements in newspapers, posters, leaflets and special TV and radio programmes. We have already held a number of targetted briefings for representative organizations in different subsectors to explain the detailed arrangements for the EC subsector elections in April and the LegCo election in May.

The nomination period for the EC subsector elections will start next Friday (13 March). To enable voters to know more about the subsector candidates, the REO will send introductory leaflets on the candidates to all voters, and put the candidates' information on the Internet. Each candidate will also be allowed one round of free mailing to his or her voters.

After the EC subsector elections on 2 April, we will enhance our publicity on the LegCo elections on 24 May to build up the atmosphere and further heighten public awareness of the polling day. In particular, the RTHK will produce various television and radio programmes such as election fora and platforms as well as documentary programmes. As in the case of EC subsector elections, the REO will send introductory leaflets on candidates to voters, and put candidates' information on the Internet. Each candidate will be given two rounds of free mailing to his or her voters. We will also publish an "Election Special" to introduce all candidates and polling procedures.

The publicity activities and practical arrangements I have just mentioned require additional manpower and resources. These are budgeted for in the allocation of $368.4 million for the REO in the estimates.