THE Government yesterday refused to say whether it was still committed to having the legislative arrangements for the 1994/95 elections in place before Legco's summer recess.
The Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Mr Michael Sze Cho-cheung, was quoted as telling legislators as recently as a month ago that the administration intended to have the bills enacted before the legislative year finishes in July.
But in his reply to legislator Mr Yeung Sum yesterday, Mr Sze said he did not think it would be helpful to talk about absolute deadlines when Sino-British talks were underway.
The third round of talks is due to start tomorrow.
''The Government is aware of the need to have the necessary legislation in place as early as practicable. But it would not be prudent for me to speculate the ways and means of achieving this while the talks are still going on,'' he said.
Nor was Mr Sze willing to reveal whether it was an option for the Government to separate the legislation for district board polls from that for the Legco and municipal council elections and to table the former in the legislature first.