Almost 60 per cent of Hongkongers do not accept Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's explanations over the conflict-of-interest allegations against him, according to the latest University of Hong Kong poll.
About 43 per cent said that Tsang should be suspended from duty during the ongoing Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation on the issue.
Despite these strong feelings, fewer than one in 10 of the 523 respondents to the poll said Tsang should resign immediately, and the opinions were divided on whether the Legislative Council should start a mechanism to impeach the chief executive.
Pollster Robert Chung Ting-yiu, director of HKU's public opinion programme, said the findings showed that the public still gave Tsang the benefit of the doubt, and wanted more facts before coming to a final judgment about him.
However, Dr Chung said, the public remained unconvinced by Tsang's justifications for accepting favours from his tycoon friends. The chief executive carried 'the burden to persuade' people about why he should stay in office during the investigation, he said.
The survey, commissioned by the South China Morning Post, was conducted from Friday through to Sunday, shortly after Tsang's pained apology in front of Legco last Thursday.
Tsang has been under immense pressure in the past few weeks after it was discovered he had accepted private jet and yacht excursions from tycoons and had rented a luxury penthouse in Shenzhen from a businessman, Bill Wong Cho-bau, who is also a major investor in Digital Broadcasting Corporation. Tsang subsequently gave up the lease on the penthouse.
