Founders of the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong are now urging protesters to abandon their occupation of major roads in the city, as the demonstrations entered their eight week.

The University of Hong Kong conducted a random survey of 513 people and found that 83% now say pro-democracy protesters should end their protest. Only 13% said the occupation should continue.

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Speaking in a CNN interview, Chan Ki-Man, co-founder of Occupy Central, said it is time to consider other forms of showing dissent over Beijing's declared policy of nominating candidates for the election of Hong Kong's next chief executive.

"Given the backlash from the community, we have advised students to think of other forms of protest, instead of just focusing on occupations," Chan said. "The occupation is controversial; it creates disturbance -- this is something we have to admit. We have to move to a new stage."

Neither Beijing nor the Hong Kong government have shown any willingness to reach some middle ground on the issue of open elections.

On Friday, the protests took a more aggressive turn when protesters, many of them wearing masks, rammed through the barricades and smashed a glass door of Hong Kong's Legislative Council building.

The protesters also charged police lines, leading the officers to respond with pepper spray and batons. Hong Kong government officials denounced the protesters as "violent radicals" in a statement later Friday.

Pro-democracy legislator Fernando Cheung said the incident was a major setback for the movement.

"I understand they wanted to scale up the action, but they didn't understand that that would only destroy the campaign," Cheung told CNN.

As police prepare to clear larger areas of the occupied roads to make use of the Hong Kong High Court's authority, protest leaders are in disagreement over what the next steps should be.

Chan and other protest leaders are proposing a "community education" campaign, where pro-democracy supporters would go to neighborhoods and convince locals to support their political agenda.

Another strategy being thought about, according to protest leaders, is for the city's pro-democracy legislators to resign en masse, triggering a by-election. This would give Hong Kong residents a chance to demonstrate their support for the democracy movement by voting the legislators back in.

In the midst of the uncertainty, Chan said the movement may have already achieved its intended purpose - to show the people's yearning for a more democratic election process. 

TagsHong Kong, pro-democracy