The man poised to become Hong Kong's next leader, Leung Chun-ying, edged closer last night to clinching the 601 election committee votes he needs today to become the city's third chief executive, after a tense final 24 hours of campaigning.
As the fractious and controversial campaign for the top job entered the final stretch, a count by the Sunday Morning Post suggested Leung will secure the votes of at least 578 of the 1,193 Election Committee members. Several pro-Beijing groups pledged their support yesterday.
However, as Leung continued to garner the votes he needs, after it became clear he has the backing of Beijing, his popularity with the public slumped to 35.2 per cent, the lowest since tracking polls began in January.
His main rival, the former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen, kept up his attack on Leung, saying the former Executive Council convenor was not the man to protect Hong Kong's core values, an accusation Leung rejected strongly last night in a reply to questions sent to all three candidates by the Sunday Morning Post, to which he was the only one to reply.
Pro-democracy groups demonstrated throughout the day, and students began an overnight vigil outside the venue for today's voting. More and bigger protests are expected today against the 'small circle'' nature of the vote.
The latest poll, commissioned by the Post and conducted by the University of Hong Kong, also saw Leung's suitability rating for the top job hit a record low of 48 out of 100.
Nearly a third of the 1,026 respondents to the survey said they would not cast their ballot for Leung, Tang, or the third candidate, Albert Ho Chun-yan, if they had a vote today.
