CONFIDENTIAL
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The Electoral College idea resurfaced again in a number of models for the future SAR legislature being put forward by Hong Kong political groups in late 1989, but none of them specified the composition of such an Electoral College.
5. Press reports following the meeting of the BLDC Special Group on the political system in Canton on 17-20 January 1990 stated that a "mainstream" political model had been adopted. For the first term of the legislature it stipulated 18 directly elected seats (30%), 30 functional constituency seats (50%) and 12 Election Committee seats (20%). Reports also said that paragraph six of the draft NPC decision on the formation of the first SARG (ss para 1 above) had been amended to reflect the new composition of the first legislature, including the reference to the proportion to be returned by the Election Committee. Since this paragraph already provides for former members of the last Hong Kong LegCo (who meet the requirements set forth in the Basic Law) to continue as members of the first SAR LegCo, the implication is that the case will also be true for pre-1997 LegCo members elected by an Election Committee put in place by us. Press reports also quoted Li Hou as saying that the GEC was aimed at stability and the arrangements proposed for the GEC elements in the 1997 legislative were a concession made to facilitate convergence, as such arrangements could be in place before 1997. Hong Kong drafters have interpreted Li Hou's words as meaning that the Election Committee to return LegCo members in 1985 would be different from that for the Chief Executive which would be set up closer to 1997. When the Governor visited Peking on 10-12 January, Li Hou also told him that the GEC could be set up in 1995 to ensure convergence and continuity, provided that we consulted and agreed with the Chinese on the means of setting it up and that we realised that it would have to be separate from the GEC which would elect the first Chief Executive.
Assessment
6.
The provision for an Election Committee does not in itself pose a problem of convergence. But we must be sure that terms for the composition and constitution of the Election Committee are set out clearly in Annex II of the Basic Law and are satisfactory to us. We
CONFIDENTIAL