ALTHOUGH IT IS traditionally dubbed the silly season in politics, this summer will see lively battles for public support by the Chief Executive and politicians seeking election to the new Legislative Council. All the signs are that Tung Chee-hwa has now geared up for more roadshows and get-togethers with a wider spectrum of people to befriend the public and salvage his sinking popularity during what some commentators are already calling a 'summer of discontent'. The Chief Executive's supposedly 'impromptu' - but, in reality, clearly calculated - visit to a busy shopping mall in Mongkok on Wednesday was the clearest sign yet that he is now more determined to seize the initiative in trying to generate favourable media coverage ahead of a possible onslaught by candidates campaigning to win a seat in Legco's September 10 polls. This is because many believe it is only a matter of time before the problems with Mr Tung's leadership become an election issue. Pro-democracy candidates are preparing to play up the issue on the campaign trail in order to highlight the differences between them and the government-friendly Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB). 'It will certainly be raised. Our party will take a critical position,' said Democrat legislator Lee Wing-tat. 'We may not go as far as saying 'down with Tung'. But we will definitely raise a question in our election material on the re-election of Mr Tung. We encourage people to focus on the issue.' Over the past few months, the issue of Mr Tung's leadership has emerged as a hot talking point. His poor handling of the ill-fated housing target of 85,000 flats has further alienated him from the tens of thousands of families angry at the fall in the value of their property assets. Mr Tung's image was further tarnished by the controversy over whether he was involved in suggesting that University of Hong Kong pollster Robert Chung Ting-yiu should not conduct any more popularity surveys. The two controversies came at a time when members of some influential professions are also up in arms over some of Mr Tung's key reforms. Opinion polls have shown a gradual fall in Mr Tung's popularity with the Baptist University's Hong Kong Transition Project pollsters finding that over half of respondents did not want to see him serve a second term as Chief Executive. 'It's a matter of public concern. We are not Democrats if we avoid this issue,' said Mr Lee, who is contesting a seat in the New Territories West constituency. 'But it would be unrealistic to call for the immediate resignation of Mr Tung. It's simply not possible. The issue is about his re-election. 'The party has yet to discuss whether to state clearly our stance on the re-election of Mr Tung in our platform. But we have left room for flexibility.' The prominent Democrat is confident that political parties can influence public opinion on the issue of Mr Tung's second term and that this, in turn, will have an impact on Beijing's attitude to the issue: 'His popularity is consistently low in opinion polls. It has reached such an alarming point that Beijing will not necessarily support him.' Mr Lee said the party's main rival, the DAB, would try to avoid the issue of Mr Tung's second term, even though they are critical of many of his policies. He said that the more discontented the public became with the Tung leadership, the better the Democrats' chances in the September polls. Public discontent with the SAR administration in the wake of the Asian financial turmoil was seen as one of the main reasons for the record 54 per cent turnout in the 1998 Legco elections that benefited the pro-democracy candidates. DAB secretary-general Ma Lik admitted that the Government's low ratings could hurt his party: 'We have to be extremely careful in dealing with the issue of the popularity of the Government and Mr Tung. If Mr Tung's authority suffers a further blow, it will become our liability. 'We have been associated more closely with the Government. Some people think we support the Government.' But Mr Ma would not comment on whether the party would support Mr Tung's re-election. 'It's simply too early to say. I don't think it's an important issue to the public at this stage. We are not going to answer this question during the campaign.' Government officials anticipate that pro-democracy candidates will give the administration a hard time in the run-up to the polls as well as after the new Legco is in place. 'Definitely he [Tung] can do something,' said one. 'He still has a good image in society. People have few doubts about his integrity and commitment. He should take advantage of his strengths to improve his image.' Any such improvement in Mr Tung's image and popularity would also help ease the pressure on candidates from government-friendly parties such as the DAB. Mr Lee conceded that Mr Tung's apparent new emphasis on better public relations would help the DAB, but insisted there were limits to the benefits this would bring: 'What he cannot change are the fundamentals. You have the civil servants, doctors, unemployed and people whose properties have become negative assets. They will remain critical of Tung.' At meetings with district council chairmen and City University students on Thursday, Mr Tung sought to justify the urgent need for his reforms in terms of ensuring that Hong Kong does not fall further behind competitors such as Shanghai. This amounted to an attempt to convince the public that the problem lies not with the reforms themselves, but rather with the way in which they are being implemented. It remains unclear whether the public will become more sympathetic towards Mr Tung and his reforms after he takes a more pro-active approach in explaining them. But it does seem clear that the problems are more than can simply be solved by better public relations. Chris Yeung ( cyeung@scmp.com ) is the Post's Political Editor
