made plain in Round 16 they could not agree to abolition of
appointed members on this basis. The British side continues to
believe that abolition of appointed members in the District
Boards and Municipal Councils is an essential part of the
gradual development of Hong Kong's electoral system,
particularly as the Legislative Council will be composed
entirely of elected members from 1995.
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS (1995)
The "Through Train"
48.
The British side proposed in round one of the talks that the only necessary qualification for legislators elected in 1995 to continue in office until 1999 should be a pledge of
allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of
the PRC and a pledge to uphold the Basic Law. This would be
exactly the same requirement as that set out in Article 104 of
the Basic Law for SAR officials, Executive and Legislative
Councillors and members of the judiciary on taking office.
49. The Chinese side initially took the position that they
would only be willing to discuss criteria for the through
train when they were satisfied that the composition of the
1995 Legislative Council would conform to their interpretation
of the Basic Law. They also pointed out that according to the
Decision of the National People's Congress on the Method for
the formation of the First Government and the first
Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region (quoted as a footnote to paragraph 7 above) it would be
for the Preparatory Committee to confirm members of the
Legislative Council as members of the first SAR Legislature.
50.
In Round 13, the British side suggested a method for
achieving early promulgation of objective criteria, consistent
with the role laid down in the Basic Law for the National
statememt.8/BRIEFS/NJH
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