Editing Provisional Legislative Council (section)

==History==
=== 1992 electoral reforms ===
When the [[Hong Kong Basic Law]] was promulgated on 4 April 1990, the [[National People's Congress]] (NPC) issued a decision on the same day on the formation of the first government and legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.<ref name="NPC1990">{{Cite web|url=https://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/images/basiclawtext_doc12.pdf|title=Decision of the National People's Congress on the Method for the Formation of the First Government and the First Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region|date=4 April 1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008224524/https://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/images/basiclawtext_doc12.pdf|archive-date=8 October 2018|access-date=5 December 2018}}</ref> The decision and the Basic Law envisioned the Legislative Council returned from the [[1995 Hong Kong legislative election]] to continue operating until 1998, when the next legislative election would be due.<ref name="Chen1997">{{Cite journal|last=Chen|first=Albert H. Y.|author-link=Albert Chen|date=1997|title=The Provisional Legislative Council of the SAR|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/37906606.pdf|journal=Hong Kong Law Journal|volume=27|issue=1|pages=1–11}}</ref>{{rp|1}}

The NPC decided that the first legislature was to be formed according to "principles of State sovereignty and smooth transition".<ref name="NPC1990"/> More specifically, the first legislature was to have 60 members, 20 of which returned from direct [[geographical constituency]] elections, 30 members from [[Functional constituency (Hong Kong)|functional constituencies]] and 10 members returned by an election committee.<ref name="Chan1997"/>{{rp|375}} If the composition of the last colonial Legislative Council conforms to the NPC decision and the Basic Law, its members automatically become members of the first post-handover Legislative Council, provided that they uphold the Basic Law, plead allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and meet the requirements of the Basic Law.<ref name="NPC1990" />

The automatic transition (or the "through-train" model)<ref name="Chan1997" />{{rp|375}} was abandoned on 31 August 1994, when the NPC decided the 1995 Legislative Council would end with British sovereignty over Hong Kong. The policy changed when the Hong Kong government decided the 1995 legislature would be formed with a new electoral formula from the [[1994 Hong Kong electoral reform|1994 electoral reform]] announced by Hong Kong Governor [[Chris Patten]] in October 1992. Although the new formula expanded Hong Kong's electoral base, it conformed with the seat composition described in the NPC decision by only allowing 33 percent of seats to be elected through universal suffrage.<ref name="Gittings2016">{{cite book |last1=Gittings |first1=Danny |title=Introduction to the Hong Kong Basic Law |date=2016 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789888208364 |edition=2nd}}</ref>{{rp|28}} This was possible only because the decision did not define the election committee and the functional constituency electorate.<ref name="Scragg1997">{{cite journal |last1=Scragg |first1=Richard |title=Constitutional Change in Hong Kong: The Legitimacy of the Provisional Legislative Council |journal=Canterbury Law Review |date=1997 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=593–609 |url=https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/cblrt6&section=38 |access-date=6 April 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{rp|600}}

The electoral reform created nine functional constituencies that gave paid labourers voting rights and abolished voting by corporations, which could vote in the old functional constituencies.<ref name="Scragg1997"/>{{rp|601}} As a result, the number of voters in the functional constituencies increased to about 2.7 million from 104,609.<ref name="Scragg1997"/>{{rp|601}} The reform also defined the election committee to consist of [[District councils of Hong Kong|district board]] members, who were themselves elected by universal suffrage.<ref name="Scragg1997"/>{{rp|601}}

China did not recognise the Legislative Council returned after the electoral reform. It stated the new composition violated the [[Sino-British Joint Declaration]], the Basic Law and the NPC decision made in 1990.<ref name="Chan1997" />{{rp|375}} It also stated the reforms were introduced unilaterally, and China was not consulted on the change in seat composition.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|1}}

Negotiations between the British and Chinese governments on the legislative transition began in April 1993, but ended in November 1993 without a consensus.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|2}} On 2 July 1993, the NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) formed the [[Preliminary Working Committee]],<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|2}} an organisation that prepared for the establishment of the [[Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region]] in 1996. According to legal scholar [[Albert Chen]], the PLC was an idea of the Preliminary Working Committee.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|2}}

=== Establishment ===
On 26 January 1996, the Preparatory Committee was formed in accordance with the 1990 NPC decision.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|6}} At its second plenary session on 24 March 1996, the Preparatory Committee established the PLC.<ref name="Chen1997" />{{rp|6}} The PLC's composition was consistent with the 1990 NPC decision, but all members were to be chosen by the [[Selection Committee (Hong Kong)|Selection Committee]].<ref name="Chan1997"/>{{rp|375}} By the end of 1996, all 60 members of the PLC had been chosen by the selection committee controlled by China.<ref name="Humphrey1996">{{cite news |last1=Humphrey |first1=Peter |title=China snubs Britain with new HK legislature |agency=Reuters |date=21 December 1996}}</ref> The [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]] boycotted the PLC and criticised it for being undemocratic, while politicians [[Tsang Yok-sing]], [[Elsie Tu]], Dominic Chan and [[Peggy Lam]] gained a seat.<ref name="Humphrey1996" />

The Provisional Legislative Council convened its first meeting on 25 January 1997 at the [[Shenzhen Guesthouse Hotel]] in [[Shenzhen]]. At the meeting, it elected its first president, [[Rita Fan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2012978/explained-how-hong-kongs-legislative-council-has|title=Explained: how Hong Kong's Legislative Council has evolved|last=Singh|first=Harminder|publisher=South China Morning Post|date=2 September 2016|access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/intro/hist_lc.htm|title=Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region – History of the Legislature|access-date=25 May 2015}}</ref> From 1 July 1997 to 1998, it sat at the then [[Old Supreme Court Building, Hong Kong|Legislative Council Building]] in Hong Kong.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

Council committees and the LegCo Secretariat sat at various locations, including{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}:
* [[Huaxia Art Centre]] – 1 Guanqiao Street in the Overseas Chinese Town in [[Nanshan District, Shenzhen]] from 22 February to 21 June 1997
* [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]] Extension – 1 July 1997

The Council held 60 meetings, 17 motions and passed 13 bills introduced by the [[Chief Executive of Hong Kong]].{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} The Legco Secretariat offices were on the 3rd Floor of the Huaxia Art Centre.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}