A lie-detector test to determine whether candidate Tsang Kin-shing had misused donations for Diaoyu Island protests - with $5 million riding on the result - was abandoned after the challenger failed to put up the cash.
Mr Tsang, a pro-democracy Diaoyu activist, yesterday demanded an immediate retraction of the allegations made by Lew Mon-hung, a Diaoyu activist from the pro-Beijing camp.
Mr Tsang, better known as 'the Bull', heads a three-member list in Hong Kong Island.
Mr Lew, a marketing consultant, alleged Mr Tsang misused the $50,000 he donated in 1997 to the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, of which Mr Tsang is a core member.
Mr Tsang said Mr Lew's claims were politically motivated. Mr Lew maintained he was telling the truth, prompting the lie-detector test, scheduled for last night.
A deal, struck on Thursday by both parties' lawyers and witnesses, said that if Mr Tsang passed the test, Mr Lew would donate $5 million to charity. If he failed, the Bull would not take part in unauthorised protests for 20 years.