TNAG-2012-FCO40-2864-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1991-1990 — Page 14

For information

on 6 March 1990

CONFIDENTIAL

Blue Vol XXXX (16)

HKB 012 !: 6

MAR 1990

XCX (90) 22

Copy No..

NOTE FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

BASIC LAW

ELECTION METHODS FOR THE SAR LEGISLATURE

2б

(16

1991

INTRODUCTION

The following points on the Basic Law were considered by Members at the Council meeting held on 28 February 1990 -

(i)

whether legislature of vote only; and

voters

(ii)

in elections for the the HKSAR should each have one

Yee

whether the two Municipal Councils and Heung be included as functional constituencies of the HKSAR legislature.

Kuk

can

A

B

BACKGROUND AND ARGUMENT

"One-Man-One-Vote"

2

Paragraph 2 of Annex II in the February 1989 draft of the Basic Law (attached at Annex A) provided that each voter in elections to the SAR legislature should have one vote only. This requirement, however, does not appear in the final text of Annex II to the Basic Law adopted at the Ninth Plenary of the Basic Law Drafting Committee held in February 1990. Item (ii) of Paragraph 1 of Annex II (attached at Annex B) states that election and voting methods shall be prescribed in the electoral law to be enacted by the SAR.

3

We believe that the removal of the "one-man-one-vote" provision arose from the introduction of the Grand Electoral College (GEC). Drafters probably concluded that duplication of membership of the functional constituencies and of the GEC could not be entirely avoided, and that details of election methods would best be left to the SAR.

Functional Constituencies

4

While the February 1989 draft specified in general terms the sectors which would make up the Legislative Council of the SAR, no details were given in the final text of Annex II on the composition of "functional constituencies". will again be a matter for the SAR electoral law.

This

CONFIDENTIAL