Low point: Popularity of Hong Kong chief executive C.Y. Leung continues to plunge, according to latest HKU poll
Leung moves one step closer to being least-liked leader in city’s history amid controversy over missing bookseller
The popularity of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has plunged to a new low, the latest survey by the University of Hong Kong has found – one step closer to the all-time low for any leader in the city’s history.
The study by the school’s public opinion programme, which interviewed 1,013 Hongkongers between Monday and Wednesday last week, found that Leung’s popularity rating of Leung has plunged by 5.2 marks to 37.5 from mid-December, below the warning line of 45.
The significant dip came amid the mystery surrounding the disappearance of bookseller Lee Bo. On Tuesday last week, Leung sparked controversy when he urged the missing Hong Kong resident to come forward.
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The latest rating was a new low since Leung took the helm in 2012, and was just 2.5 marks higher than the all-time lowest score of 35 obtained by the city’s first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, in the wake of the July 1 pro-democracy march in 2003.
Tung, who stepped down in 2005, was forced to shelve the controversial national security bill after 500,000 people took to the street amid fears that it would curb their freedoms and rights.
Leung’s predecessor Donald Tsang Yum-kuen received his lowest score in office, 38.5 marks, in June 2012.
The net approval rate – the difference between vote of confidence and vote of no confidence – of Leung has also dropped by 11 percentage point to minus 44 percentage points.
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Meanwhile, the ratings for the three top officials – Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung – have also fallen, with their latest marks standing at 52.1, 59.3 and 45 respectively.
Education minister Eddie Ng Hak-kim and development chief Paul Chan Mo-po, who scored net approval rates of minus 48 percentage points and minus 34 percentage points respectively, are the worst performers in the cabinet. Along with Leung, the pair have fallen into the category of “depressing” performer.
Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, the director of the HKU public opinion programme, suggested that a political figure would sink into a credibility crisis if his or her popular rating fell below 45 marks.
The survey’s response rate was 64 per cent.
