AS the countdown to tomorrow's election debate proceeds, we see and hear widespread opinions about who should vote for what and why.
Some favour maximum subservience to the British tradition, others favour concession to China. Some are clearly concerned about the Governor's future.
Who has thought about what is best for Hong Kong? If we go wild and vote for election procedures that have no chance of continuing beyond 1997, we can be certain that they will be completely dismantled and replaced by a system of Beijing's creation. Many may favour this. But Beijing has stated that they will put politics before economy.
Is that the best for Hong Kong? We could, however, vote for a system which establishes sound principles, that can only be overruled by breach of international agreement or acceptability. This might be better for Hong Kong in the longer term.
What are the foundation stones? The Basic Law spells out the composition of the first SAR Legislative Council.
It uses terms which were defined in the 1984 White Paper and agreed with Beijing. Neither of the main bills conform to these specifications and hence they would give Beijing an unarguable right, in international law, to dismantle the Legislative Council in 1997 and start again.