Almost half of Hongkongers have expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the city’s opposition-free legislature, according to a survey by local think tank Path of Democracy.
The poll surveyed around 1,000 people between January and February to ask whether they were satisfied with the city’s government and legislature.
Around 48 per cent of the respondents were unhappy with the Legislative Council (LegCo), while nearly 41 per cent were dissatisfied with the government, Path of Democracy said in a report published on Wednesday.
“This dissatisfaction may be linked to the high costs associated with [LegCo] since its inception and the public scrutiny over the quality of its deliberations, which have been marred by numerous controversies,” the think tank said in the report.
Path of Democracy – founded by Ronny Tong, a member of Hong Kong’s top advisory body, the Executive Council – conducts surveys twice a year on a range of issues related to the city’s political and economic development.
Tong, convenor of Path of Democracy, said during a press conference on Wednesday that the high level of dissatisfaction could be attributed to the public perception that some lawmakers lacked “insights” and showed a passive attitude when scrutinising bills.
“People thought that many lawmakers made speeches only to flatter [Beijing] and that they seldom expressed their own insights,” Tong told reporters in Cantonese. “They were also seen as somewhat unfamiliar with or being passive in vetting bills.”
In March 2021, Beijing passed legislation to ensure “patriots” govern Hong Kong. The move reduced democratic representation in the legislature, tightened control of elections and introduced a pro-Beijing vetting panel to select candidates. Authorities say the overhaul ensures the city’s stability and prosperity. But the changes also prompted international condemnation, as much of the traditional opposition remains behind bars, in self-exile or has quit politics.
The Wednesday report also included the latest score of the “One Country, Two Systems” index, which showed people’s ratings on issues such as the city’s autonomy, economic openness, and its relations with mainland China on a scale from zero to 10.
The latest score was 6.14 – down from 6.17 in the previous survey, which ended a continuous upward trend logged since 2021.
Five out of six components for the index recorded a decline in score, with “human rights and freedom” dropping 0.12 point to 5.34 – the largest drop in the latest survey.
Economic openness remained the highest-scoring component, showing a slight increase of 0.04 point to 9.39.
Path of Democracy attributed the decline to high-profile court trials in the second half of last year, including the convictions of 45 prominent opposition figures in the city’s largest national security trial and the ongoing proceedings against media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Meanwhile, almost 84 per cent of the respondents said they had no plans to emigrate, which Path of Democracy said showed an “enhanced sense of belonging to Hong Kong.”
In February, independent pollster the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) announced that it would halt all self-funded research, including those that tracked public approval ratings of the city’s leaders and key policies, and and may “even close down.”
The announcement came weeks after CEO Robert Chung was investigated by the city’s national security police on suspicion of assisting a fugitive.
