Asia-Pacific, Headlines

HONG KONG: Two Legislatures – One in Hong Kong, One in Shenzhen

Yojana Sharma

HONG KONG, Dec 21 1996 (IPS) - In what one senior Beijing official described as a “fair and open ballot’, 400 members of the China- appointed Selection Committee Saturday elected 60 representatives to sit on the territory’s Provisional Legislature.

The election, which Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten has contrastingly described as a “sad, bad day for Hong Kong”, took place in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, and was broadcast live by television in Hong Kong.

Some 33 of those elected are those sitting on the British colony’s existing democratically elected legislature but absent are any members of the Hong Kong Democratic Party who declared the provisional legislature as illegal.

The biggest vote-getter was Tam Yiu Chung of the pro-China party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) who lost to a Democrat Party candidate in last year’s direct elections.

Chinese foreign minister Qian Qichen who presided over the election process, declared the provisional legislature constituted after a “just, fair and open ballot”.

And, he insisted the provisional legislature was representative of Hong Kong people because its members come from “all walks of life”.

Qian said China originally wanted to hold the election in Hong Kong but because Britain had refused to cooperate they had no choice but hold it in Shenzhen.

However analysts said Beijing’s main concern was that the election might be marred by protesters. There was tight security in Shenzhen to prevent potential protesters crossing the border.

Members of the United Front Against the Provisional Legislature, who include current legislators, let off some 50 balloons and a protest banner at the border. And there were other protests in Hong Kong during the day.

The provisional legislature is intended to replace the current body after the midnight Jun 30, 1997 handover of the British colony to China. But it will also meet in Shenzhen for the six months before the handover, threatening to undermine the current legislature.

Patten has refused to cooperate with the provisional legislature and the British government Friday issued a challenge to Beijing to take the issue to the International Court of Justice for arbitration.

“This echo chamber has no place in the political or administrative life of Hong Kong. We will have nothing to do with it in any form because it is reprehensible and unjustified,” Patten said in a recent interview.

“A quarter of those who are lining up for jobs in this institution were beaten in regular elections,” he added then.

On Saturday, he was no less outspoken in his criticism. “Over a million people in Hong Kong voted for the present legislative council and up there over the border now, 400 people, in a bizarre farce, are voting for a so-called provisional legislature.”

Tung Chi-hwa selected earlier this month as Hong Kong’s first post-1997 chief, taking over from Patten, said it was wrong for Patten to ignore the reality of the provisional legislature.

He however admitted there were “lingering doubts” about the body’s legality, which would have to be resolved by China’s parliament the National People’s Congress.

Whether or not the provisional legislature is legal will not prevent it from functioning and analysts note it could make the last 200 days of Patten’s governorship quite difficult.

“Two parliaments is not a recipe for stability,” said Michael deGolyer of the Hong Kong in Transition Project at the Baptist University.

But Chinese officials insist they are not “destabilising” Hong Kong by allowing a parallel legislature. “If the two bodies do not challenge each other they can actually exist in harmony over the next six months,” said Lau Siu Kai, a Selection Committee member.

Independent legislator Emily Lau however believes the provisional legislature would be a “recipe for confusion and chaos”.

“If the two bodies express different views on how things should be, the civil servants would not know what to do. The bureaucracy could be ground to a halt and the repercussions would be felt throughout the community,” she said.

There have already been cases when some Hong Kong legislative council meetings have had to be cancelled for lack of a quorum because some members who sit on the Selection Committee gave priority to committee scheduled.

And several members of the new provisional legislative body who are also members of the current legislature, have similarly said they would give the provisional legislature priority.

This could become divisive, particularly if the two bodies schedule assemblies at the same time, with the post-handover legislature holding its meetings in Shenzen.

 
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