Page:Hong Kong Basic Law consultation report vol. 1.djvu/46

 to those obtained by the CCBL. Then, the Drafting Committee will be at loss as to which set of results to follow.

5.4.2.3 The public opinion poll has now become a political issue and will not be able to fulfil its expected function, i.e. to gauge the inclinations of the public scientifically, objectively and fairly. It has been used by certain parties as a tool for propagating certain political viewpoints and stirring up public opinion. It has also become a means and an excuse for political campaigns. It has been politicized in all aspects from whether to conduct the poll, to the way of doing it, to the interpretation of its results. Thus, the conditions under which it can be conducted objectively and scientifically no longer exist. All political forces will join in the planning, execution and monitoring of the survey to influence the results to their own advantage. Under such circumstances, the results of the poll, whatever they are, will not be accepted by those in opposition. This situation will not be helpful to resolving the problem.

5.5 On the conditions and methods for conducting a public opinion poll

5.5.1 Affirmative views:

5.5.1.1 After the Beijing incident, the political consciousness of the Hong Kong public has been raised tremendously. The effect of this incident is even greater than that of ten years' civic education. Hence, there are favourable conditions for conducting a public opinion poll.

5.5.1.2 There are many opinions which cannot be quantified. However, if the various models are presented for the public to choose from, the opinions can be quantified. A viable method is to translate the issues to be surveyed into simple answers, e.g. "yes" or "no", for the public to choose from. Such a survey is believed to be meaningful and efficient. 5.5.1.3 According to information, there is still a large balance in the Fund for the disposal of the CCBL. The expenses incurred by a public opinion poll will therefore not be a problem.

5.5.1.4 It has been suggested that a public opinion poll should be conducted after the conclusion of the consultation period and before the Drafting Committee subgroup meetings. It will be a finale to the consultation after members of the public have fully expressed their views.

5.5.1.5 The scope of the survey can be greatly reduced to focus only on those issues which we consider to be most in