HONG KONG—Pro-Beijing Government support in Hong Kong has hit an all-time low, while Chief Executive Donald Tsang stages a televised debate over the controversial electoral reform with seemingly premeditated results.
According to the recent Public Opinion Programme (POP) survey from the University of Hong Kong, the approval rating for the Government stands at 41 per cent—the lowest in the last 12 months.
The poll, which conducted over 1000 random phone call interviews, also indicated that more than half of those surveyed disapproved of Tsang the leader of the region. Tsang’s net popularity stands at negative 16 percentage points.
POP cites Tsang’s debated electoral reform package as one of the reasons for the sinking popularity.
According to Government figures, Tsang has invested in excess of $HK9 million on the so-called “Act Now” campaign, in attempts to influence the public to support the reform package.
The long-term politician’s rhetoric aims to entice Hong Kong with Universal Suffrage, which is supposed to give them a chance to directly elect a leader without Beijing’s influence.
Tsang embarked on an unprecedented scope of publicity stunts with TV ads and radio broadcasts, as flags and flyers have blanketed the city in the lead up to the June 23 vote.
However, the Hong Kong public have not been receptive, but rather critical. And at times this has resulted in fierce opposition with tensions ever-increasing and mounting discontent in various forms—from facebook social media outlets to yelling matches directed at the Chief Executive himself.
The pan-Democratic groups have also blasted Tsang. They say the reform proposals, are merely a regurgitation of the 2005 failed package, which did not address direct elections and brought over 250,000 angry people to the march streets in the former British territory.
