35pc of respondents in Hong Kong poll 'unhappy' with government's political reform proposals

As many as 35 per cent of Hong Kong people are unhappy with the proposals laid out in the government document released earlier this month for a second round of public consultation on political reform, according to a poll commissioned by the pan-democratic Alliance for True Democracy.

The poll, conducted by the University of Hong Kong, obtained the views of 1,018 people over three days last week.

The poll showed 35 per cent of respondents expressed discontent with the proposals listed in the government consultation paper, while 22 per cent were satisfied and 26 per cent had a "50-50" attitude.

On Beijing's framework for the 2017 chief executive election, 43 per cent believed it would mean "fake universal suffrage" for Hong Kong, while 30 per cent did not believe so. Some 19 per cent said "50-50".

Under the framework announced by the National People's Congress Standing Committee in August last year, only two or three chief executive candidates - endorsed by a majority of the 1,200 members of a nominating committee - would be put forward for a popular vote.

Pan-democrat lawmakers have vowed to veto any reform proposals based on this framework. They have enough Legco members to deny the government a two-thirds majority vote needed to endorse the package.