I thank Tsang Yok-sing (South China Morning Post, August 29) for his speedy response to my last letter (Post, August 27). Let me respond constructively to the problems he points out in my proposal.
If the first Special Administrative Region Legco must be elected, and if the provisional legislature conveniently falls outside of the Basic Law definition of that first Legco, then we should appoint all the existing Legco members to be the members of the provisional legislature.
If that were done, the 20 per cent limit on foreign passport holders in Legco would not matter, nor would the obligation to elect Legco be offended.
The advantages would remain - authority derived from the new sovereign; de facto social and political legitimacy; a solution to which the Democrats could not in practice object; a dramatic reinforcement of China's message to the international community that the transition will be smooth.
And Mr Tsang would not have to retract his statement: 'There is no question of a backward step in Hong Kong's road to democracy.' Let us all hope he will publicly press the relevant bodies to accept this solution.
PAUL SERFATY Mid-Levels
