Donald Tsang looks to the colonial past to justify a step-by-step transition

Hong Kong's political history should be taken into account when considering the Basic Law principle of 'gradual and orderly' change in methods to elect the chief executive and legislature, the taskforce report said.

It said direct elections for district councils had only been introduced in 1982, and it was not until after the handover that certain members of the public could elect the head of government.

Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said the term 'gradual and orderly' was hard to define in a legal sense, and public views had been diverse.

The report said: 'It involves a step-by-step transition and different stages of evolution over time. With regards to arriving at the ultimate aim of selecting the chief executive and electing all members of Legco by universal suffrage, the evolutionary process should not stagnate. It should proceed in stages, but the process should not be too fast.'

Mr Tsang said the speed of change should not affect Hong Kong's stability and prosperity. 'It is of utmost importance that political development not bring destabilising risks to society and the economy as Hong Kong is, after all, a small place.'

The report noted that governors had been appointed in the colonial era up to the handover, and only after the change of sovereignty could the chief executive be selected by a 400-member electoral college, which was enlarged to 800 members in 2000. It also noted elections for district councils had been introduced in the 1980s, and it was not until 1991 that the colonial government abolished seats returned to the legislature by an electoral college. The report cited the process where directly elected seats in the Legislative Council were increased from 20 in the 1998 election to 24 in 2000 and to 30 this year.