Government Administration of the 1991 Direct Elections: A Public Opinion Analysis

The 1991 series of elections in Hong Kong marked a milestone in the Territory’s political development as it continues along the transitional path to post-1997 Chinese sovereignty. Pressure, professional, and social groups produced various coalitions to contest the elections as they themselves attempted to make transitions to full party status. The Hong Kong and British governments invested substantial resources and prestige in the elections while the People’s Republic of China assisted some sympathetic groups and provided media pressions on popular opinion. Much rode on the elections. Beyond an evaluation of the election results themselves, the success or failure in leadership, organisation, philosophy, and campaigning of individual candidates, groups, parties as well as the various efforts by involved governments maybe measured in part by the reflective assessment given them by the people of Hong Kong in the immediate post-election period. The 1991 elections ere thus a very public test of a variety of aspects of party and government administration. This article presents some results from a post-election in-depth telephone survey and associated research activities and offers a preliminary analysis of the 1991 election process as Hong Kong looks toward the pivotal — and now controversial — series of elections set for 1994-95.