THE system of appointing members to municipal councils and district boards should be reintroduced, the Preliminary Working Committee said yesterday.
The local convenor of the committee's political sub-group, Leung Chun-ying, said appointed members in the councils had been doing a good job over the past years.
The appointment system was unilaterally abolished by the Hong Kong Government, who ignored objections raised by many district organisations, he said.
But the sub-group had not discussed the percentage of appointed members in the post-1997 councils.
One member, Lau Siu-kai, believed appointees should make up about a quarter of the councils.
Mr Leung said the sub-group had agreed a 'flexible approach' should be adopted on how to return the first post-1997 Urban Council, Regional Council and district boards. Since they were non-political organisations and the Basic Law had no stipulations on their composition and selection methods, they did not have to be treated in the same way as the Legislative Council.
China has repeatedly said the term of the three tiers of government would come to an end on June 30, 1997.