Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam needs bold action to save her reputation, says city’s top pollster
- University of Hong Kong’s Robert Chung says policy adjustments can help chief executive fix her image
- City leader has worst approval rating in history after extradition bill protests
Hong Kong’s embattled leader needs to act quickly and boldly with major policy adjustments to save her battered reputation, according to the University of Hong Kong’s outgoing opinion poll chief.
Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, director of the university’s public opinion programme, also said Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had missed the best time to stop her controversial extradition bill in mid-June, and now had a mountain to climb to rebuild trust with the public, as none of her ministers had stepped down over the controversy.
“She still has a chance, but she has to step up a lot more,” Chung said. Asked if policy adjustments could help, he said: “Yes, she must work on that.”
A separate survey by Chinese University echoed that trend, with Lam’s approval rating down to 37.5 from 48.1.
Both surveys were conducted after two massive rallies that drew hundreds of thousands of people to the streets. At one point, Lam insisted on pushing ahead with the second reading of the bill, which would have allowed the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions the city does not have an extradition agreement with, including mainland China.
But the second march on June 16, which organisers claimed was attended by 2 million people, eventually forced the government to suspend the bill.