LEGISLATORS have accused the Government of trying to force them to withdraw a bill preventing expatriate civil servants switching to local terms. The claim came after the acting Secretary for the Civil Service, Stuart Harbinson, said the private members' bill proposed by the Local Crown Counsel Association would put the Government in an impossible situation. He warned its enactment would have worse consequences than preventing transfers to local terms. He said the bill would deny some Hong Kong permanent residents continued employment in the public service, putting the Government in breach of the Bill of Rights. ''The Public Service Panel seems to be giving us a choice between infringing the Bill of Rights on the one hand and seriously damaging the localisation process on the other,'' he said. United Democrat legislator Cheung Man-kwong said he was disappointed at the way the Government had handled the matter. ''The Government is threatening legislators with their own imagined 'worst scenario' in order to force us to withdraw the bill,'' Mr Cheung said. He said the administration lacked the sincerity to solve the problem. ''The panel has asked the Government to freeze the new policy so as to allow time for all parties concerned to work out an acceptable solution, but they ignore our request,'' Mr Cheung said. Liberal Party legislator Allen Lee Peng-fei said the party would proceed with the bill if the Government could not offer solutions. ''Government officials just come out to defend the policy without trying to solve the matter, is that in the interest of the public?'' Mr Lee said.
