Half of respondents to a Democratic Party poll said recognition of the Hong Kong government would rise if the chief executive was chosen under universal suffrage. Of the 1,222 respondents interviewed by the party this month, 65.5 per cent said the chief executive should be returned by this method in 2007. About 11 per cent preferred direct elections in 2012. Those dissatisfied with the chief executive being picked by an 800-member Election Committee totalled 62 per cent. Only 24.6 per cent backed the arrangement. A total of 49.8 per cent said a directly elected chief executive would increase government recognition; 16 per cent said the opposite while 34 per cent were unsure. The Basic Law allows Hong Kong to directly elect the legislature and the chief executive after 2007. Democratic Party vice-chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan is tabling a non-binding motion in the Legislative Council tomorrow urging the government to quickly introduce election of the chief executive and the legislature through universal suffrage. Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung emphasised that the government was still studying if direct election of the next chief executive in 2007 would be allowed under the Basic Law. The Legco constitutional affairs panel is to hold a public hearing next month on the issue.
