HONGKONG people are likely to be left in the dark about the deliberations of the working panel, which is set to adopt secrecy rules at the end of its first plenum today. This is despite repeated pledges by senior Chinese leaders that Beijing would widely consult the territory on transitional matters. Under a set of working regulations on the body to be passed today, members will not be allowed to divulge details of their discussions without authorisation. Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the body, a Hongkong vice-chairman, Ann Tse-kai, reminded members not to tell the public what they discuss. ''You can publicise your own views but not those of others,'' he said. Chairman of the panel, Qian Qichen, pledged to make their work more democratic by listening to the views of ''various sectors of society, including Hongkong''. The working regulations, however, did not say how that might be done. It is understood some members raised the issue at group discussions yesterday afternoon. Hongkong member Dr Raymond Wu Wai-young said the issue had been discussed, but there was no conclusive view on ways to consult Hongkong people. Officials, including New China News Agency head Zhou Nan, have rejected the possibility of setting up a widely based consultative body similar to the disbanded 180-member Basic Law Consultative Committee. Panel members, divided into five sub-groups, held a series of sessions on details of their future work plan after the opening ceremony. The five groups are: political affairs; economy; legal; culture and education; and law and order. Each is headed by one Hongkong and one mainland co-convenor. The political affairs group is co-convened by Leung Chun-ying, while the law and order group is co-headed by Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai. The others are Dr Raymond Wu Wai-yung (culture and education); Nellie Fong Wong Kut-man (economy); and Simon Li Fook-sean (legal). Mr Leung said he did not rule out commissioning polls to gauge public opinion on transitional matters. Members had not raised the controversy over the through-train arrangements, he said. Mr Leung also said they had not discussed the implications for their work of the Sino-British talks. Members would outline a list of priorities in the next sub-group meetings. Issues such as the formation of the Basic Law Committee and the election methods for local deputies to the National People's Congress were not urgent and would be handled later.
