CONFIDENTIAL
161655 MDHIAN 7731
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(15) ART. 73. THE AMENDMENT PREVENTS LEGCO MEMBERS FROM INTRODUCING BILLS RELATING TO **POLITICAL STRUCTURE' THIS APPEARS TO HAVE AN EVEN WIDER SCOPE THAN ''STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT'' (SECOND DRAFT), AND MEANS THAT ANY LEGISLATION RELATED TO THE POLITICAL STRUCTURE, E.G. MINOR AMENDMENTS TO ELECTORAL LAWS, CAN ONLY BE INTRODUCED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
(16) ART. 74, PARA. 2. THE DELETION OF THIS PARAGRAPH IS NECESSARY TO ALLOW FOR THE NEW, AND UNWELCOME, VOTING PROCEDURES.
(17) ART. 88. THE ADDITION OF THE WORDS ''ONLY' IN BOTH PARAS IS AN IMPROVEMENT.
(18) ART. 103. THE ADDITION OF ''OF THE PRC'' AFTER ''HKSAR' MAKES NO DIFFERENCE.
(19) ART. 110, PARA. 2. THIS REQUIREMENT WAS IN THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE BL. WHILE THE REQUIREMENT REFLECTS THE PRESENT PRACTICE, IT DOES THEORETICALLY FETTER THE SARG'S AUTONOMY.
(20) ART. 118. NO PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE, BUT THEORETICALLY UNDESIRABLE AS AN ADDITIONAL FETTER ON THE SARG.
(21) ART. 144 TECHNICAL. PRESUMABLY TO REFLECT THE FACT THAT THE GOVERNMENT ITSELF DOES NOT ACTUALLY MAKE LAWS.
(22) ART. 146. SEE COMMENT ON (21) ABOVE.
(23) ARTS. 153, 156. REPLACING HONG KONG'' WITH ''HKSAR'' IS A SMALL IMPROVEMENT.
2. THE OTHER MAJOR OUTSTANDING PROBLEM IS ART. 106. WE NOTE THAT THE CHINESE TEXT OF ART. 106 IS OPEN TO A BROADER INTERPRETATION, THAN THE ENGLISH VERSION IN THE SECOND DRAFT, I.E. ''STRIVING TO ACHIEVE A FISCAL BALANCE, STRIVING TO AVOID DEFICITS AND STRIVING TO ENSURE THE BUDGET IS COMMENSURATE WITH GDP GROWTH. DURING MY VISIT TO PEKING, I WAS TOLD THAT THE ENGLISH TEXT FOR THIS ARTICLE HAD BEEN REVISED. HOWEVER, THE ENGLISH TEXT AS RELATED TO ME BY LU PING (PARA. 9(E) OF PEKING TELNO. 066) DOES NOT LOOK TO BE ANY BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION IN THE SECOND DRAFT. IT WOULD BE USEFUL IF PEKING COULD APPROACH HKMO TO ASCERTAIN WHAT THE ACCURATE ENGLISH TRANSLATION NOW IS.