Former Executive Council convenor C Y Leung told reporters that Henry Tang has been dodging his responsibilities for dealing with poverty when he was chief secretary, and in charge of the poverty commission.

Mr Leung accused Mr Tang of avoiding a face-off with himself and the pan-democrats' Albert Ho.

Mr Leung said that Mr Tang should not blame the Commission on Poverty for any failures, and he also challenged Mr Tang to take part in a public debate.

Asked for his response, Mr Tang said that Mr Leung should not disregard the work done by the Poverty Commission. He said he disagreed with what he described as the spirit of "splitting our community". He said Hong Kong needed a cohesive spirit to mitigate and solve some of the very deep rooted issues on the table.

Mr Tang reiterated that he would debate with the other candidates - but not until after their nominations are confirmed.