ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE TRANSITION
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Tung might require. As a first step, Mr Tung will be provided with accommodation and staff for his private office. He will also be provided with other necessary assistance to facilitate his assumption of office on July 1, 1997.
Continuity of the Legislature
In his 1992 Policy Address, the Governor put forward proposals for the 1995 Legislative Council elections. The objective was to ensure that the electoral arrangements were open, fair and acceptable to the community and, at the same time, were within the framework of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
The government would have preferred to legislate the proposals on the basis of agreement with the Chinese side. Hence, 17 rounds of talks with the Chinese side were conducted in 1993. Regrettably, no agreement could be reached. Because of the need to introduce legislation and given the constraints of the electoral timetable, the government had no choice but to press ahead and put forward the proposals to the Legislative Council in 1994. The proposals were approved by legislators. The elections held in September 1995 attracted a record number of candidates and a historically high voter turnout. The elections were widely regarded as open and fair.
Since the breakdown of talks, the Chinese side has said on various occasions that there would be no 'through-train' Legislative Council. The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress decided on August 31, 1994, that the Legislative Council elected in 1995 shall come to an end on June 30, 1997. At its second plenary meeting on March 24, 1996, the Preparatory Committee endorsed the setting up of a provisional legislature. According to the decision of the committee, this body is to exist until the first Special Administrative Region legislature is established, which will be no later than June 30, 1998.
Despite popular support for the current Legislative Council, China proceeded with its plan for a provisional legislature. On December 21, 1996, the body was chosen by a 400-member Selection Committee.
The corporate position of the British and the Hong Kong Governments on the continuity of the legislature is clear and well known. The electoral arrangements for the 1995 Legislative Council were open, fair and fully consistent with the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. There is no basis for a provisional legislature in the Joint Declaration or the Basic Law. Until British sovereignty ends on June 30, 1997, the only constitutional legislature in Hong Kong is the current Legislative Council, elected openly and fairly by a record number of voters, and with a clear and legitimate mandate.
This position was reaffirmed by the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary on various occasions, and again in a statement issued by the British Government on December 20, 1996, which:
(a) explained why China's plan to have the provisional legislature start operating before July 1, 1997, would make a bad situation worse and was both undesirable and unnecessary;
(b) reminded China that it had a clear duty to return as soon as possible to unambiguous compliance with the Joint Declaration and to minimise the damage which a provisional legislature may cause;