Half of Occupy Central protesters ready to pack it in if asked by organisers
Survey shows a near-even split between those who would go home if asked by organisers, and those who want to stay until demands are met
Half of Occupy protesters said they would retreat if asked to do so by campaign leaders, according to a poll of more than 2,100 people taking part in the sit-ins.
The findings, compiled by students and analysed by the , came as tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying urged protesters to consider retreating.
Out of 2,183 protesters polled, 958 said they would retreat if the three groups leading the movement asked them to do so. The results also showed that 963 said they would ignore such a request and continue their protest, while 262 did not give a clear answer or were undecided.
The study was conducted by 20 student protesters and volunteers. Close to 2,000 protesters in Admiralty and about 200 in Mong Kok replied to questionnaires between Friday and Sunday.
Supporters of a retreat said now was the time to change their strategy to reach out to the wider public. Some said public support for the street protests, now in their eighth week, had been dwindling and staying would not give them a better chance of achieving their goals.
Those who vowed to stay said retreating would amount to an admission of failure, as the Hong Kong and central governments had not made any concessions on electoral reform proposals.
The study came as a University of Hong Kong poll conducted this week found nearly 83 per cent of Hongkongers wanted the protests to stop.
