Just eight out of 100 people think the Chief Executive is the best figure to represent the SAR's interests, a poll says.
More than 60 per cent of respondents also said Tung Chee-hwa was more accountable to Beijing than Hong Kong, while almost half said he would not make the interests of the SAR a priority if there was a clash with the mainland.
The telephone survey, by the Chinese University's Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies last month, found only 82 out of 1,002 people interviewed believed Mr Tung could best represent the SAR's interests.
The legislature received the largest endorsement, with 22.8 per cent, followed by the media (20.3 per cent) and the courts (15.3 per cent).
The poll found 60.9 per cent believed Mr Tung was more accountable to Beijing than the SAR. Asked if they believed Mr Tung would place Hong Kong's interests first if there was a clash with the mainland on an issue, 48.3 per cent said he would not.
Wilson Wong Wai-ho, assistant professor of the university's department of government and public administration, who was in charge of the survey, said Mr Tung lacked legitimacy as he was the product of an 'undemocratic system'.
