25.9% of them supported Leong. In the survey, 26.7% of the respondents had an improved impression upon Tsang after the debate; while 13.1% of them had a less favourable impression, and 57.4% of them had an unchanged impression of Tsang. By contrast, 36.5% of the 611 respondents had a more favourable impression of Leong. Liberal Party Chairman, James Tien said that although Tsang's campaign office apparently "lacked preparation", his performance "would not undermine the central government's support for him". The second debate Format 200 members of the general public were allowed to participate in this event to raise questions. This debate was divided into 3 sessions: social livelihood, politics and economics as themes for each session. During the debate, the two candidates respectively answered 9 questions from the audience and 6 from the media. Issues During the second debate, Tsang said that the commitment to universal suffrage was enshrined in the Basic Law, a national policy which nobody could change. He promised he will start planning and negotiating the issue on the universal suffrage within the coming 5 years if he was successfully renewed in the post. On the other hand, faced with certain defeat at the poll, Leong said that "Hong Kong has triumphed in this first ever contested race in Hong Kong and China's democratic history." And he vowed to return in the 2012 universal suffrage election. In response, NPC chairman Wu Bangguo, was quoted as replying the final decision on matters related to Hong Kong's political system rested with the central government and not the SAR government. Outcome According to the second survey on Chief Executive Forum carried out by the University of Hong Kong, the instant poll showed that 38.9% of 520 respondents thought that Tsang's performance of was better than that of Leong, while 39.3% of the respondents thought Leong performed better. The result shows a significant difference, compared with the first instant poll, in which Mr. Leong was behind his rival. Opinion polling Donald Tsang dominated in the polls despite his relative inactivity and lack of eloquence in public debate. Alan Leong never achieved a rating higher than 20 percent in the rolling opinion polls conducted by the Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme between 26 February and 23 March. Voting Result Controversy In an apparent attempt to maximise votes for Tsang, Stanley Ho had suggested that those casting blank votes could be tracked