Advertisement
Advertisement
Universal suffrage in Hong Kong
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
John Tsang insists the promotion drive will continue. Photo: Franke Tsang

Support level for Hong Kong's 2017 election package changes little despite government promotion efforts

Latest rolling survey finds that support for 2017 election package remains virtually unchanged despite promotion efforts by the government

The level of support for the government's 2017 political reform package has changed little despite an all-out effort by officials to promote it in the past two weeks.

The latest result of a rolling poll - jointly conducted by three of the city's universities since the reform package was unveiled last month - showed 47.6 per cent backed it, an increase of 0.9 percentage points from the first round result a week ago.

The rise was within the range of the poll's margin of error - which is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Speaking ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting yesterday, acting Chief Executive John Tsang Chun-wah declined to respond directly to a question about whether the government would change its promotion strategy after some officials faced embarrassment during district visits.

The officials have been criticised because they were accompanied by politicians and volunteers from pro-establishment political parties.

On Saturday, Dr Ko Wing-man, the usually mild-tempered health minister, got into a shouting match with an elderly man on political reform during a visit to a public housing estate.

"We have been using various methods to reach out to the people and to canvass their support for the political reform. We will continue to do so," Tsang told the press after he was asked whether officials would stop visiting neighbourhoods.

All 27 pan-democratic lawmakers have repeatedly vowed to vote down the electoral reform, which follows a stringent framework laid down by the central government in August last year for the chief executive election.

A member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, has warned the stock market could face a significant decline if the reform is blocked.

"The relationship between politics and the economy has been inseparable," Tsang said. "But we will need to see the impact when it happens. This possibility cannot be ruled out."

The latest poll - which was conducted by the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University and Polytechnic University - interviewed 1,163 Hongkongers by phone between April 27 and May 1. It also showed that 36.4 per cent were opposed to the government's proposal, a drop of 1.2 percentage points from the previous week. Sixteen per cent remained undecided.

A separate poll conducted by the Hong Kong Research Association between April 22 and 24 showed 61.3 per cent of 824 respondents agreed the Legislative Council should pass the reform, while 30.6 per cent preferred to maintain the current system. A pre-recorded automated voice system was used for the poll - a method which has been questioned by academics.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Poll plan backing changes little
Post