CONTRACTS for expatriate civil servants should not be renewed until the controversy over the localisation policy has been settled in court, it was suggested yesterday.
Meeting Point chairman Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said the present policy could deprive expatriate civil servants of promotion chances and a court should determine if this was against the Bill of Rights.
Mr Cheung said if the Government went ahead with the new policy before a court ruling, it would mean the Government tacitly accepted the policy was against the Bill of Rights.
Under the new policy announced last Friday, expatri ates who have worked for seven years or more can apply for naturalisation to become Hong Kong residents and transfer their employment contracts to local terms.
Asked if Britain should consult China on the new policy, Mr Cheung said he was worried that it would only complicate the problem if China intervened and said the current issue was a domestic one.
Mr Cheung said the Government side-stepped the political reaction of Legco as the policy had been announced in its recess.
He said the problem should be debated widely in the political arena.