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Mr Allen Lee: I just want to clarify this point, a very important point which the Governor said.
The President: But I cannot let you ask the question because it is Mr David Chu's turn, not your turn. You raised a point of order and I ruled that was not a point of order but I allowed your question to slip through. So I should not allow you to ask a supplementary.
Mr Chu, do you have a short follow-up?
Mr David Chu: Yes. If the provisional legislature is constituted some time before 1 July 1997, which I believe is a reasonable assumption, would this Government, as I stated in the original question, recognise and co-operate with this body, Mr Governor?
Governor: The honourable gentleman is talking about a body which may have some legal status in China but has no legal or constitutional position in Hong Kong. That is undeniably the case. So if you're talking about, if the honourable gentleman is talking about winding up this body and if he's talking about putting something in its place, he'd better explain why that is legally justified and why it's morally justified. Let me say this, there is no reference to a provisional legislature in the Joint Declaration. There is no reference to a provisional legislature in the Basic Law. There is no reference to a provisional legislature in the NPC decisions of 1990 and 1994. At present, as I understand it, the arguments about a provisional legislature rest on the assumption that the NPC decisions give the Preparatory Committee carte blanche. I think that's a slightly worrying argument and a slightly dubious argument but it's not for me to say what is or is not legally justified so far as the provisional legislature is concerned. A point made very well the other day by Mr Denis Chang. All I'm saying is that there is only one Legislative Council here in Hong Kong before 30 June, 1997. Only one. And that is the Legislative Council the Executive Council is going to work with and that is the Legislative Council which the Government is openly accountable
to.
Mr James To (in Chinese): Mr President, now whether the LegCo will be dismantled or not, we won't know yet but it seems that some are already dismantling some important constitutional principles of the ExCo. Mr Tung Chee-hwa voted to support the provisional legislature in the Preparatory Committee and another ExCo member, Mr Raymond Ch'ien said there was a legal basis for the provisional legislature. Both their words have already departed from the principles of the Government and the position of the Government. So I want to ask the Governor whether they have breached the collective responsibility system because this is something you have always stressed is important? And that's the reason why you kept out some members with a lot of public opinion backing from the ExCo. So is this collective responsibility system no longer in existence, in effect? Or are you afraid of them because some of them are tipped as potential candidate for the Chief Executive post? So are their words in breach of the principles of ExCo?
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