Pro-government political parties last night echoed the official line that collusion between businesses and officials does not exist, and opposed a Legco motion calling for the rooting out of such activities.
Instead, they called for greater government transparency.
The prolonged row over whether Hong Kong was plagued by collusion between officials and businesses intensified recently after Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa vowed in his policy address that he opposed such collusion.
Moving the motion last night, Emily Lau Wai-hing of The Frontier called for a monitoring system to be set up, and for a review of the political system to plug loopholes that allow backroom deals.
Ms Lau cited incidents such as the Cyberport row and the halting of a government-subsidised housing scheme to boost the property market. She said the time was ripe for the government to introduce a more democratic system and root out collusion.
Pro-democracy lawmakers and those representing the grass roots generally supported the motion.
Lee Wing-tat, chairman of the Democratic Party, said the government should not ignore the problem by saying there was no evidence of collusion.
