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Need for continuity behind second term, says monitor

Linda Choy

Mr Justice Woo said he was serving another term as chairman of the electoral body for the sake of continuity.

He was made chairman of the commission's predecessor, the Boundary and Election Commission, in 1993.

Mr Justice Woo, 51, led the independent body's monitoring of the 1995 Legislative Council election.

'It [the 1998 election] is the first poll in the SAR, it is a very important election and I am staying for the sake of continuity,' he said.

Asked whether he could complete his tasks on schedule, the High Court judge said: 'I may have a lot of sleepless nights, I may have more of my hair falling out, but I think we can make it.' Comparing his new task with that in 1995, he said the commission had a simpler task in the geographical election, with only three to five constituencies.

Mr Justice Woo was asked to comment on claims that the boundary commission had been a 'toothless tiger', with its criticisms often ignored. 'It is effective when people are afraid of our censure and it's ineffective if people simply ignore it,' he said.

'We will consider ways of improvement but it is not yet time to do so.'

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