The Hong Kong Public Opinion Institute (HKPORI) released on June 15 the latest poll results of the chief executive, bureau secretaries, and the Hong Kong government. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has had his no-confidence rating hit a new high since he took office, and his popularity, confidence, and net approval ratings were all at record lows.
Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu believes that one of the reasons for Lee’s decline in popularity may be related to the high-tension atmosphere in Hong Kong around June 4 this year.
The HKPORI conducted telephone interviews with 1,005 Hong Kong residents over 18 from June 1 to June 8, asking them about their ratings of the chief executive, bureau secretaries, and the Hong Kong government. Among them, in terms of the popularity of the chief executive, the public’s latest rating is 51.5, which is 5.4 points lower than the same survey in mid-May, hitting a new low since he took office.
Lee’s latest approval rating is 44 percent, down seven percent from the previous survey in May; his net support rating is negative one percentage point, a sharp drop of 16 percentage points, both hitting new lows since he took office. Lee’s latest vote of no confidence rate is 45 percent, an increase of eight percentage points from the previous survey and a new high since he took office.
As for the latest public satisfaction with the government dropped by four percent, while the dissatisfaction rate increased by 12 percent. The latest net satisfaction rate is positive two percent, a sharp drop of 16 percent from May and a new low since November 2022.
Johnny Lau Yui-siu, a current affairs commentator, said that there are many reasons for the decline in Lee’s popularity, including the high level of public dissatisfaction with former Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, which led to certain feel-good expectations of Lee in the early days of his tenure, which jerked up his popularity at that time. After nearly a year now, his popularity has begun to decline.
Another reason is that this poll was conducted around the 34th anniversary of the June 4th incident. Many government officials warned against “hijacking” various activities on the eve of June 4th. Such a high-tension atmosphere created dissatisfaction against the Chief Executive and the Hong Kong government among the Hong Kong public. Lau also pointed out that Lee’s lack of balance in handling the “Cathay Pacific” and “organ donation” incidents in recent months may be another reason for his low popularity.
