Announcing his decision, Tien made it clear he had consulted some Beijing officials about his possible candidacy and got a feeling that the central government will support Acting Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

However, he said the chief reason for his decision not to stand was was an internal party poll which showed little support for him in comparison with Tsang, he said.

The poll conducted by the party between March 31 and April 12 on 6,167 people showed 60 percent favored Tsang as the next chief executive, compared to 5.8 percent for Tien, with 34 percent preferring neither.

Tien admitted he was deeply disappointed by the results and added that he would have felt embarrassed asking the 800-strong Election Committee and the central government to support him.

``I am very disappointed at the poll results. I very much wanted to run for the chief executive, but this poll doesn't give me any confidence.

``When the popularity gap between me and Donald is that big, it is really hard for me, based on this poll, to lobby support from the Election Committee,'' he said at a press conference Wednesday.

Tien explained that although his party had approached some election committee members and they were more positive about his candidacy, he was more concerned about his lack of public popularity. ``I reckon that I have a slim chance of winning the race. I should not run for the sake of running or for the sake of challenging Donald.

``If I press ahead with my bid without regard for how many votes I can win, there will be a negative impact on my party's morale and development.

``We think public opinion is very important. Even if I could win the seat with the support of the Election Committee, I don't think it would be a glorious victory,'' he said.

Tien added when he tried to gauge the views of the central leaders, they did not give him a clear signal that they would support him in an election bid.

``But I got a general impression that the central government will support Donald to be the next chief executive. But they did not ask me not to run nor did they say they wanted to see an uncontested race,'' he said.

Tien, who was said to have angered Beijing when he suddenly resigned from the Executive Council in July 2003, forcing a dramatic backdown of the government over the Article 23 saga, said he had no idea why he failed to gain Beijing's support. ``The central leaders did not explain anything, nor did they talk about Article 23 to me,'' he said. However, he insisted Beijing's preference was only secondary, saying had he secured substantial popular support, he would have fought to win over Beijing.

``I really haven't thought about the central government's preference for Donald. That is actually secondary. If the poll showed I were equally favored by Hong Kong people, certainly I would pursue that matter with the central government and ask why Donald is a better choice. But now, I can't even ask this question,'' he said.

Tien insisted nobody, including the central leaders, had persuaded him to quit the race.

``I want to know Beijing's view on my candidacy because one needs to obtain Beijing's affirmation to be the chief executive,'' he said.

He also denied his party's voting stance in the upcoming election would be influenced by Beijing, saying his party had not discussed whether to support Tsang in the election.

However, he did not rule out the possibility that he would run for the post in 2007. ``We won't rule out any possibility, but we need to see how Donald will govern Hong Kong and whether there will be other candidates in 2007.''

Tien said since the poll did not ask the respondents the reason for their choice, he had no idea as to why he lagged so far in popularity.

``Is it because of me or because of the fact that party politics is still immature in Hong Kong? I really don't know. But I hope the public is not doubting my competence.''