We still don't know who to vote for
Undecided members of the Election Committee say Premier Wen Jiabao's comments on the chief executive race have created more confusion than clarity on who Beijing would prefer to see win the post on March 25.
Wen had told a news conference at the National People's Congress closing ceremony in Beijing on Wednesday that he believed voters would 'elect a leader who enjoys support of the vast majority of the people' - a remark that some analysts suggested was a subtle indication of the central government's preference.
But members of the 1,193-strong Election Committee - tasked to select a chief executive - who want to vote in line with Beijing's preference said they remained uncertain on who to vote for among the three candidates contesting next Sunday's poll.
'I believe there is some indication from Premier Wen,' said Kwan Chi-yee, an elector from the Chinese medicine sector. 'I wish that Beijing could give a clearer message of its preference so that we could vote for that candidate accordingly.'
The Chinese medicine sector, with 30 members, is dominated by pro-Beijing supporters.
But with the two front runners from the pro-establishment camp, Henry Tang Ying-yen and Leung Chun-ying, embroiled in 'mud-slinging', says Kwan, Beijing's thinking has been 'difficult to interpret'. The third candidate, the pro-democrats Albert Ho Chun-yan is, at best, seen having only a theoretical chance of winning.
Beijing and its allied media in Hong Kong have also been careful to be neutral in their comments on the chief executive race, for fear that the central government will otherwise be seen as interfering in the process.
'We are feeling very confused right now,' Kwan said.
He added that he would be meeting 'friends who share the same objective in choosing a candidate' one or two days before the election, and leave making the call on which candidate to vote for until the last minute.
Forty out of 60 members from the religious subsector - which includes Muslim, Taoist, Confucian and Buddhist seats, and are traditionally occupied by electors with a strong pro-Beijing background - are undecided, particularly after Tang's popularity dropped to a record low amid a scandal over unauthorised alterations to his Kowloon Tong home. Before then, he was widely regarded as Beijing's preferred candidate.
'The central government's officials did express their preferred candidate [to us] a long time ago, as we understood it. But the situation has changed,' said Hau Wing-cheong, from the Hong Kong Taoist Association, referring to Tang's scandals and drop in popularity.
Leung, Tang's principal rival, once trailed the former chief secretary in opinion polls but has since come to lead him by 20 or more percentage points for several weeks.
'It seems to us now that Beijing is quite indifferent to both candidates, unlike previous elections when the officials would imply their preference more clearly,' Hau said.
But Hau said he believed that unless the central government openly expressed it had changed its mind, at least 35 members of his subsector were likely to stick to 'the original plan' - of voting for Tang - even though some were having second thoughts about the choice.
Meanwhile, Shui On Group chairman Vincent Lo Hong-sui, who nominated Leung, said during a radio interview yesterday that some prominent property tycoons and businesspeople told him they were willing to consider voting for Leung.
