Henry Tang Ying-yen yesterday came under pressure on two fronts to boost his public profile or risk losing the support of some on the Election Committee as the clock ticks towards formal nomination for the race to become Hong Kong's next leader.
Calls for the former chief secretary to publish his manifesto and to engage in a head-to-head debate with his rivals came just 24 hours after the latest public opinion survey showed the popularity gap between Tang and his main rival, Leung Chun-ying, has widened to 19.5 percentage points - 6.3 points more than two weeks ago.
Also yesterday, members of the 1,200-strong Election Committee who will choose the city's next leader complained that Tang's delay in releasing his manifesto was making their job more difficult. One threatened to nominate Leung if Tang failed to make his policy proposals public before the nominating period concludes at the end of February.
Meanwhile, Leung said a member of his campaign team would hand a letter to Tang's campaign office tomorrow to press for a direct debate. 'We have sent a letter to [the chairman of Tang's campaign office] David Li Kwok-po by post today. And we'll hand the letter again to their office in person on Monday,' he said.
Leung said Tang's team had rejected a request for a direct debate last week. Tang has declined to go head to head with Leung or pan-democrat Albert Ho Chun-yan, saying debates should not be held until all the candidates have qualified for the election - a reference to the need for nomination by 150 committee members - and have their manifestos out. Tang is the only candidate yet to release policy proposals.
'I am working on the final draft of my manifesto and I will deliver at an appropriate time,' he said yesterday. He stopped short of saying whether it would be released before the two-week nomination period for the election begins on February 14.
Several Election Committee members urged Tang to release his manifesto soon, so that they could consult the people they represent and decide who to support.