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A system of separate vote counting for all categories of Bills was agreed by a majority of BLDC members. The effect of this would be to limit the ability of the directly elected members to implement important pieces of legislation and leave the last word with the
Executive.
There were indications that the Grand Electoral College to elect part of the legislature could be established before 1997, thereby providing for continuity in the legislature over the transfer of soveriegnty in 1997.
A new and unhelpful proposal was made that a maximum of 15% of members of the SAR legislature could be foreign nationals or have right of abode outside the SAR.
Most Hong Kong BLDC members were dissatisfied with the outcome. They would like to see a larger number of directly elected seats in 1997 and improvements to the other aspects of the package. Reaction in Hong Kong has been critical.
The Prime Minister will want to assure Dame Lydia and Mr Lee that we have taken very seriously their arguments in support of the OMELCO consensus. As they are aware, we have been negotiating toughly with the Chinese and have already succeeded in bringing them a long way to our position. The gap which now divides us is not wide and it would make little sense to embark on what could be a major confrontation with the Chinese, thereby jeopardising all that we have already achieved for the future of Hong Kong, if only a few seats stood between agreement and disagreement.
Redacted Under FOI Exemption Sec 27(1)
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