SECRET
Hitz uziz
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
12 August 1992
Mr Peter Lai
Deputy Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
Government Secretariat
HONG KONG
(By classified Fax)
London SWIA 2AH
Telephone: 071-
file
MARK
бо
dea beres,
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS WORKING GROUP MEETING, 6 AUGUST
1. One extra thought to add to yesterday's stream of consciousness on the Election Committee.
2.
Although we are concentrating at present on LegCo, we should not lose sight of the fact that the most important role of the Election Committee defined in Annex I of the Basic Law is to elect the Chief Executive for the term 2002-2007 and possibly for subsequent terms (what would happen if the Chief Executive appointed on 1 July 1997 does not serve his full term is not entirely clear).
3. It may be argued that if we can agree with the Chinese before 1995 on reasonable arrangements for an Election Committee for the 1995 LegCo on the general lines set out in Annex I of the BL, and if we can enact an electoral law setting it up, then we can hope not only:
(a) that the 10 LegCo members elected by this 1995 Election Committee will ride the through-train to 1999; and
(b) that the Election Committee electoral law will not be greatly amended after 1997 and thus the Election Committee set up in 1999 to elect 6 LegCo members will be broadly on the same lines as the 1995 Committee, ie more likely to accord with "the principles of democracy and openness" than if the SARG/Chinese were writing on a blank piece of paper; but also
(c) that in 2002 the Chief Executive will be elected (or re-elected) by this same, reputable, Election Committee.
To put the argument the other way round, if we decide to proceed unilaterally to set up an Election Committee for 1995 which is not at all on the lines of BL Annex I, then we are denying ourselves significant influence over the way in which the SARG's second and future Chief Executives are chosen.
const.wkg.gp/MISC/njc
SECRET