In the next two days a sub-group of the Preparatory Committee will meet in Beijing to finalise its proposals on how to form the first legislative council of the Special Administrative Region (SAR).
The proposals will be submitted to the Preparatory Committee for approval later this month.
Last week, however, Chief Executive-designate Tung Chee-hwa flew to Beijing and suggested to Vice-Premier Qian Qichen that instead of the Preparatory Committee, the SAR government should have the final say on the electoral arrangements for the first legislature.
Mr Tung is also a deputy chairman of the Preparatory Committee and Mr Qian the chairman.
The Preparatory Committee was formed in accordance with a decision by the Chinese National People's Congress in 1990. The ruling, which defined the powers and functions of the Preparatory Committee, said it should 'prescribe the specific method for forming the first government and the first legislative council [of the SAR]'.
Many members of the Preparatory Committee have always understood this to mean that the committee is charged with making the rules for the legislative council elections due to take place next year. It should take decisions on matters like how the various constituencies are to be defined and what kind of voting system is to be used.
It has been suggested that as the Preparatory Committee is responsible for the formation of the first legislature, its work will not be completed until the elections have been held.