Opinion | Champions of Beijing's camp losing public opinion war on political reform
Albert Cheng says out-of-touch officials and the likes of Robert Chow have not only failed to persuade people, they are adding to the strife
The authorities are waging a war against the pan-democrats in the court of public opinion in a bid to steamroller Beijing's highly restrictive nominating method for the next chief executive election in 2017 through the Legislative Council.
It is anybody's guess how much the Communist Party has spent on its so-called united front efforts in Hong Kong, but it must be a huge amount.
The Hong Kong government is expected to turn the unpopular decision by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress into a proposed amendment to the Chief Executive Election Ordinance early next year. A two-thirds majority in the 70-member legislature is required for the measure to pass.
If it is vetoed, the status quo will be maintained. The bureaucracy's propaganda machine is now focused on luring the public to take whatever is doled out.
At this critical juncture, both mainland and Hong Kong officials are pulling out all the stops. Yet their line-up of talking heads to argue the case has been, to put it politely, dismal.
Their public faces have included the usual ultra-conservatives hand-picked as NPC delegates and members of the Executive Council. They include Elsie Leung Oi-sie, Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, Maria Tam Wai-chu, Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun and Arthur Li Kwok-cheung.