Disband Hong Kong’s police force? Online poll shows most in favour of move
- Survey results released by three self-proclaimed spokesmen for the Citizens’ Press Conference
- Group says poll has been online since start of the month, with more than 130,000 respondents
Disbanding the police force has emerged as a new demand among anti-government protesters and nearly 90 per cent of 138,000 Hongkongers who took part in an online poll gave the city’s law enforcement a rating of zero.
The survey, which was released on Tuesday night by three self-proclaimed spokesmen for the so-called Citizens’ Press Conference, also indicated that respondents were not afraid of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) or emergency laws that could suppress their movement and freedoms.
The group said the poll had been online since September 8. Among the 71 topics on the survey were statements about the government’s attempts to ease the crisis, protesters’ demands and the outlook of the movement.
The topics were ranked on a scale of one to five, with one meaning “strongly disagree” and five “strongly agree”. The idea of disbanding the police force as a way to resolve the political turmoil had an overall score of 4.32.
Fears of a deployment of PLA troops scored a 2.16, while the notion that emergency laws would not stop protesters from resisting was at 4.45.