A new large-scale poll sponsored by a pro-Beijing legislator has revealed that over half of those surveyed support the government’s electoral reform package in the Legislative Council.
The poll was conducted by the University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Program (HKUPOP) and was sponsored by Liberal Party legislator James Tien.
Participants were asked whether they support or reject the reform resolution personally and whether or not they support or reject the passage of the resolution in LegCo.
In the first question, 48% personally expressed support for the resolution and 38% rejected it. In the second question, 51% supported the passage of the resolution through LegCo while 37% support veto of the resolution.
The poll was conducted over the period of 5th June to 14th June, with around 5000 samples and a margin of error of 1.4%.
Director of HKUPOP, Professor Robert Ting-yiu Chung, says that the survey shows that statistically speaking, there is significantly more people who support the resolution than those who reject it. Chung also emphasised that he was given full freedom when conducting the poll and was not influenced by the political background of Tien.
Tien responded to the results stating that he had hoped for a result showing 60% supporting the resolution and 40% rejecting the resolution. Tien said that such a “favourable number” could allow him to lobby the pan-democratic legislators to support the resolution.
Tien is the former chairman of the Liberal Party and also a former member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Council (CPPCC). He is a critic of Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying and was ejected from the CPPCC when he commented that Leung should consider resigning due to the governance issues back in October last year.
