CMAB and HYAB brief LegCo Members on proposals to improve governance at district level (with photos)
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At the two briefing sessions today, Mr Tsang and Miss Mak explained the objectives and guiding principles of the proposals on improving governance at the district level. They emphasised that the new District Councils (DCs) will comprise members returned by four selection methods, namely appointed, District Committees Constituency, District Council Geographical Constituency and ex-officio members, enabling the DCs to widely recruit members with different expertise and district experiences who can reflect the overall interest of the community. With views collected by DC members from different channels, the Government can take a more comprehensive and holistic view of district affairs to formulate policies that suit the community needs. This is also conducive to enhancing the efficacy of district governance and achieving good governance.
The two Directors of Bureaux pointed out that the reformed DCs will play a better role in complementing and supporting the administration of the Government, and serve as a bridge to convey messages: assist the Government to keep its finger on the pulse of the community so that the Government can have more effective planning of district services; help foster social cohesion and garner public support for the Government; and also provide various consultation and referral services to the residents in the district, so that district work can be done properly and benefit every citizen.
Being very supportive of the proposals, the attending LegCo Members had active and constructive exchanges with the two Directors of Bureaux. The two Directors of Bureaux said that the Government targets to secure the LegCo's passage of the District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2023 before the summer recess of the LegCo this year so that the DC Ordinary Election can be held at the end of this year and the seventh-term DCs can take office on January 1, 2024, as scheduled.
Since the announcement of the proposals on improving governance at the district level, Mr Tsang and Miss Mak attended various radio and television programmes, briefing sessions and media interviews to brief the public, media, Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress, Hong Kong members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, different political parties and LegCo Members on the proposals. They will continue to brief different sectors of the community on the proposals in coming weeks. In addition, Government officials will also visit street booths in various districts to appeal to the public to support the proposals.
Ends/Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Issued at HKT 17:15
Issued at HKT 17:15
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