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Summary

A Forum on ‘Constitutional Reform in Hong Kong: Where Do We Go?’ was held at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) today. The organizer of the forum, Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS), CUHK, released the findings of the second opinion poll on 2012 constitutional reforms.

The second telephone survey was conducted from 28 January to 4 February 2010, and successfully interviewed 1,009 respondents aged 18 or above. The results of statistical analysis were weighted according to the Hong Kong population statistics in mid-2009 published by the Census and Statistics Department.

The second opinion poll finds that slightly more than half (51.2%) of the respondents support the Government's proposal on the 2012 constitutional reforms. As the consultation period for the constitutional reforms will soon come to an end, the research team still maintains its previous position that the Government lacks a very strong foundation to push forward the current proposal. In fact, more than 60% of respondents do not agree that the Government has made the best proposal under current circumstances.

Hong Kong citizens are pragmatic in striking a balance between political ideals and reality. On the one hand, their desires to speed up democratic progress and universal suffrage are very strong. On other hand, they would not agree to deny completely the reform package such that the present system would remain unchanged otherwise. In order to generate a wider base of support for the Government's proposal, significant improvements in the reform package have to be made fast.

Regarding the debate on functional constituencies, the respondents again have divided positions. More than half (50.9%) of respondents expect the functional constituencies to vanish upon the arrival of universal suffrage, and the sooner the better. However, a significant minority (36.6%) of respondents still prefer keeping the functional constituencies. Among this latter group, the majority also agree to reform the functional constituencies system significantly.

Finally, the collective resignation of Legco Councillors initiated by the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats is not supported by the majority (59.5%) of the respondents. Undecided voters prevail when responding to whether or not they would re-elect the candidates from the Civic Party or the League of Social Democrats.

(Please refer to the Chinese version for details.)

Panel on Constitutional Reforms
Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS)
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Panel Members:
Prof. Stephen W. K. CHIU, Associate Director of HKIAPS and Professor, Department of Sociology
Prof. Prof. WONG Chack-kie, Associate Director of HKIAPS and Professor, Department of Social Work
Prof. CHAN Kin-man, Department of Sociology
Prof. Wilson Wai-ho WONG, Department of Government and Public Administration
Prof. Prof. MA Ngok, Department of Government and Public Administration
Mr. CHOY Chi-keung, Department of Government and Public Administration