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Miss Saunders
25 JAN 1993
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Sir J Coles) minus
CC:
Mr Hum
Miss Brooks,
) attachment
)
Legal Advisers) plus
Mr Wye, RAd
) attach-
Mr Davies, FED } ment
HONG KONG: POSSIBLE CHANGES TO THE ELECTION COMMITTEE PROPOSAL
1. I have now had a chance to read the ExCo paper setting out four possible ways of broadening the composition of the Election Committee. You will have seen a copy for addressees who have not seen this before. It was produced after a discussion in ExCo on 12 January showed that a majority favoured a change in the Governor's proposal on this issue before legislation was tabled in LegCo. I attach the telegram reporting a further discussion in ExCo on 15 January, on the basis of this paper.
2. Since ExCo are not discussing the issue again for a fortnight, we have an opportunity to feed in comments. My own initial thoughts are as follows:
if we are to run the political risks of changing the Governor's proposals on the Election Committee, we need as clear a rationale as possible for a new proposal.
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the Governor's original proposal had the merit of simplicity. Its main problem is that it bore no relation to the Basic Law's provisions either for the 800 member Election Committee for the 1999 LegCo, or the 400 member Selection Committee for the First Chief Executive. If we are to move away from the Governor's proposal, I think there is a strong case for adopting a composition which looks as much like the Basic law provision as possible, while still being defensible in terms of our criteria that the election must be fair and open.
easier said than done. But the above leads me to think that Option A in the ExCo paper is the only one worth considering seriously. Option D is clever but seems too complicated, involving (as the paper recognises) the creation of a new series of constituencies, in addition to functional and
changes.elc.PETER
JEB
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