After the unnecessary media hype and speculation among the public, Liberal Party Chairman James Tien yesterday backed out of the race for the next chief executive, to be chosen in the July 10 by-election.

Tien said the chances of his winning Hong Kong's top post was extremely slim, especially after a Liberal Party-conducted opinion poll showed his popularity rating was far behind acting CE Donald Tsang. Only 5.8 per cent of about 6,000 respondents said they would vote for Tien, while almost 60 per cent voiced support for Tsang. The rest were undecided.

Though Tien was disappointed by the poll, he said: "With such a low popularity rating, it would be extremely hard for me to get the mandatory 100 nominations from the Election Committee... Only if my popularity rating gets closer to Tsang should I consider running for the post. But I don't think that I'd be able to catch up with Tsang within a few months."

Tien, however, didn't rule out the possibility of contesting the 2007 CE election.

The Liberal Party is yet to hold a formal meeting with the Democratic Alliance for Betterment & Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) to discuss in detail the possibility of fielding a joint candidate in the by-election or how to cast their votes in the Election Committee. But Tien said he had got messages from sources close to the central government that they supported Tsang as the next CE. Tsang, however, has not indicated his willingness to run for the post.

A spokesperson for Tsang said yesterday that the top priority for the acting CE is to ensure the smooth operation within the administration and make sure the new CE returned as scheduled. Hence at the moment, taking part in the July 10 bypoll is not a top priority subject for Tsang.

DAB Chairman Ma Lik said he respected Tien's decision. DAB has yet to name any candidate to contest the bypoll.

Lee Wing-tat, chairman of the Democratic Party, felt disappointed with Tien's retreat. The Democratic Party will decide on Sunday whether it would field a candidate in the bypoll.

(China Daily HK Edition April 14, 2005)