LEGISLATORS are to be given the chance to amend any agreement between Britain and China on the 1994-95 electoral arrangements, which would then be returned for further discussion.
United Democrats chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming said after meeting Alastair Goodlad, the Foreign Office Minister with special responsibility for Hongkong, that any agreement on the electoral arrangements would be presented in the form of an understanding instead of a contract or a treaty.
Mr Lee quoted the minister as saying that if the Legislative Council was not satisfied, legislators could amend the agreement and Britain would take the changes back to discuss with the Chinese Government.
Mr Lee said the important point was whether the agreement was acceptable to the people of Hongkong.
''A memorandum is the right way to present the agreement. It is a procedural matter but we query how can they [the Government] be assured that the agreement would be acceptable to most of the people in Hongkong?'' he said.
Meeting Point legislator Fred Li Wah-ming also said a memorandum was acceptable but added: ''What Mr Goodlad is trying to do is to pacify us by saying the agreement is not set in concrete and it is up to us to amend or to reject it. But I don't think I have been pacified.'' Before meeting Legco members, Mr Goodlad said the talks had been conducted in a positive and cordial manner.
Though reiterating the importance of the through train arrangements, Mr Goodlad deflected all questions related to it, stressing that the two sides had agreed on keeping the talks confidential.