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ми
Mr
cox
HKD
HICCO 20/1
Munke
ли
MACAO BASIC LAW (DRAFT)
1.
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Referenc
mr yox O[R
Mr
CC Mr Graham, BTC Hag kang
KM, PA's office, Hong Kong
кт
60 & 8.a. Macer.
C52517
You will no doubt have seen the draft of the Basic Law for Macao published in SWB on 20 July. It is very closely based on the model of the Basic Law for Hong Kong and, in large parts, uses the same wording. I attach a note comparing the two Laws and bringing out some of the main differences between them. This minute summarises and comments upon that analysis.
Many of the differences occur in relation to subjects which have proved controversial in our dealings with the Chinese over Hong Kong.
Political Structure
2.
The Hong Kong BL has provision both in the case of the Chief Executive and in the case of Members of the Legislative Council for them ultimately to be selected by universal suffrage. The Macao BL
is much more restrictive, and there is no reference to this ultimate aim. In Macao, as in Hong Kong, the Chief Executive is to be selected "by election or through consultation" (Article 48). Annex I spells out the method for the selection of the Chief Executive in both cases. Hong Kong is to have an Election Committee of 800 persons divided equally between four functional groups (industry and commerce, the professions, labour social services and other sectors, and members of the Legislative Council, representatives of district organisations, and deputies to the NPC and members of the CPPCC). The same groups make up the 300 members of the Macao Election Committee but their proportions are different with 100 coming from the first, 80 from each of the second two, 40 from the last. This, in Macao's case, would seem to have the effect of reducing the number of electors with direct connections with the PRC establishment (the NPC and the CPPCC). The Macao Legislative Council will retain a number of appointed members, the Basic Law states only that "most" members should be elected (Article 70). Whereas Hong Kong will have moved to situation by the third term of the SAR Legislative Council whereby half its members are elected directly and half indirectly, Macao will have 12 elected directly, 10 indirectly and 7 appointed by a similar stage.
3.
Hong Kong thus has, which Macao does not have, provision for an ultimate goal of direct elections for the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council, though it does not provide any specific means of achieving this goal. In the case of District Organisations, the Hong Kong version gives them more wide ranging consultative powers than the Macao version allows (Articles 97 and 98).
Hong Kong's Legislative Council does away with appointed members which Macao's does not. In these respects, Hong Kong may have greater democratic privileges than Macao. On the other hand, in the election committee for the Chief Executive, China seems to have a wider potential representation in Hong Kong than in Macao.
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