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SECRET
SECRET
FM HONG KONG
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 1598
OF 121049Z OCTOBER 93
INFO DESKBY 13003OZ PEKING
INFO IMMEDIATE UKREP JLG HONG KONG
ه بر
1148 013/1
Constit. Deypt (Gen) 144164
MDHIAN 8803
139
Our telnos 1571 and 1588: Hong Kong Constitutional Development.
Summary
1.
ExCo consulted on proposed deadline for deciding on the 1994/95 electoral arrangements. They agree that early December is the latest we can leave it. They also approve our proposal to extend the deadline for the Boundary and Election Commission (BEC) to submit its recommendations on Municipal Council (MC) constituency boundaries. Way now clear for Peking to brief the Chinese on the latter.
Detail
2. ExCo discussed an information paper which at last week's meeting we had agreed we would circulate, setting out in detail the steps required to make all the necessary arrangements for the 1994- 95 elections, and the minimum time each step would take. The time- table showed that the overall deadline for a decision on the entire package was early December 1993, and that all legislation must be in place by July 1994. We also presented the political and technical arguments against separating decisions on the MC and District Board (DB) elections from those on the LegCo elections, drawing on first TUR. I said that we had been trying various ways to give the talks more time, but clearly we were approaching the Limits to our room for manoeuvre. Early December was a real deadline.
3.
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