The popularity ratings of three senior government figures – including the chief executive – have decreased, a survey has found.
Polling carried out by the University of Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Programme revealed that Chief Executive CY Leung’s popularity rating dropped slightly from 43.2 percent to 42.6 per cent since May when the last poll was carried out.
The support rating of Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, Leung’s number two, and Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen both decreased since the previous survey. Lam’s support rating dropped from 57.4 percent to 55.4 percent, whilst Yuen’s support rating dropped from 50.1 percent to 49.8 percent.
Lam and Yuen were two of the three officials in charge of the highly controversial political reform proposals, which will be voted on by lawmakers this week. If approved by legislators, the package would allow Hong Kongers to directly elect their chief executive in 2017 albeit from a pool of candidates vetted by a predominantly pro-Beijing nominating committee.
Financial Secretary John Tsang was the only principal official included in the latest survey who experienced a slight increase in public support. His rating rose from 58.2 percent to 59.0 percent.
