95
36
and the Electoral
this
College, from the proposals I offered in
Council last year: in all other respects the proposals are the same. They are proposals that we would be prepared to recommend to this Council as part of an overall agreement including of course arrangements for the "through train".
166.
Because of the confidentiality undertaking I do not want to be specific about the nature of the revisions. In
general terms, however, bave made two major moves in an
attempt to meet Chinese concerns. First, we have devised a
new proposal for the nine new functional constituencies,
based on organisations as the Chinese have insisted, and with a total eligible electorate of just over a third of
that in my original proposal. We continue to insist that
electors should vote individually, not corporately. Secondly, we have tried to meet China's preference for a four sector Election Committee
along the lines set out in
legislature. We continue to
argue that all members of the Election Committee should
the Basic Law for the 1997
themselves be elected.
167.
I repeat, these are major moves. They were not made lightly and they are not mere negotiating ploys. They
evidence of our sincerity, our flexibility, and our
determination to make
success of these talks. But our
are
room for manoeuvre is limited if we are to remain, as we
must, true to the
principle that election arrangements in