16 Percent Voted Zero Points in Popularity Poll For John Lee
From July 11 to 21, the HKPORI staff interviewed a random sample of 1,004 Hong Kong residents by telephone. According to the survey result, in the “Rating of Chief Executive John Lee,” where the respondents are asked to rate their support of Mr. Lee Ka-chiu on a scale of 1-100, the average score was 49.7, falling below 50 for the first time since Mr. Lee became the chief executive, and with 16 percent of respondents giving him a score of zero. The score last month was 51.5, and in May, it was 56.9.In a separate “Hypothetical Voting Results for John Lee as the Chief Executive” section, Mr. Lee’s popularity rose from last month’s net value of negative 0.7 percent to positive 21.4 percent.
PORI explained in the press conference that the wording of the question in this section has changed from “If a general election of the Chief Executive were to be held tomorrow, and you had the right to vote, would you vote for John Lee?” which required a yes or no answer, to “If you have the right to decide whether to reappoint or dismiss John Lee as chief executive, what would be your decision?” where the respondent needs to choose among “reappointment,” “dismissal,” “abstention” and “don’t know/hard to say,” These changes have a considerable impact on the survey results.
Government’s Popularity at a New Low Since Nov 2022
Regarding people’s satisfaction with the HK Government, the percentage of respondents choosing “satisfied” decreased from 43.8 percent to 38.6 percent, and those choosing “dissatisfied” also dropped from 41.9 percent to 37.7 percent. More people chose “half-half,” which decreased from 21.7 percent to 13.8 percent. The net value of 0.8 percent is the lowest since November 2022.Tightening of HK’s Political Atmosphere
Mr. Johnny Lau Yeui-Shiu, a well-known expert on the HK-China nexus, veteran, and popular media personality, is of the view that although the government is trying to suggest that Hong Kong has maintained its status as an international financial centre, several international institutions have downwardly adjusted their outlook of Hong Kong. And this is not something the HK chief executive or the HK government could salvage. Hence the public is disappointed with the chief executive and the government.Mr. Lau also points out another reason for public dissatisfaction, which is Hong Kong’s continued tightening of its political environment. Examples he gave include the high-profile arrest warrants and cash bounties issuance by the police last month for eight prominent democracy activists and ex-lawmakers in exile, as well as the interrogation of family members of the eight fugitives, all of which would leave people with negative perceptions of the HK government.
Its actions are counteracting all the government’s efforts to project a good image of Hong Kong and show its recovery, the authorities are actively following up on over 6,000 cases of various “offences” during the 2019 anti-extradition movement, which means the outside world would inevitably maintain a view of HK’s political tightening. Mr. Lau said.
Mr. Lau believes that the government should not blame Hong Kong’s slow recovery solely on Sino-U.S. rivalries and that the government’s mainland-style “stability overrides all” approach will overwhelm its own recovery efforts and damage its own popularity. He suggests Beijing and the Hong Kong government rethink the governing of Hong Kong and the “one country, two systems” policy, letting the outside world see gradual signs of relaxation. Otherwise, the perception of Hong Kong in the eyes of the public will not improve.
