Politicians accept early Legco closure
Major political parties yesterday described as reasonable the decision to fix the final session of the next legislative year for June 25 - the final Wednesday before the June 30 handover.
In previous years, Legco has run into July.
But legislators said Legco President Andrew Wong Wang-fat's decision was reasonable because China would throw out Legco and replace it with a provisional legislature.
Liberal Party leader and Preparatory Committee member Allen Lee Peng-fei said: 'The Letters Patent's [Hong Kong's current constitutional document] power over Hong Kong's legislature will end on June 30, 1997, so it is correct to set the closing date before the changeover.' Democratic Party legislator Dr Yeung Sum said Mr Wong was legally correct to set the closing date before the handover, but said that he should discuss the decision with lawmakers.
'The Government has been saying existing legislators should be allowed to serve after 1997, and now it's a special arrangement to close early before July 1,' he said.
Pro-China legislator Ip Kwok-him of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong said it was right to fix the date before July 1 because Legco would be disbanded at the changeover.
