Casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun yesterday sought to play down his comments that Election Committee members who cast blank votes on chief executive election day could be traced, saying he believed the poll would be conducted in an 'open, fair and just' manner.
Mr Ho's comments came as complaints were lodged with the Electoral Affairs Commission and the Independent Commission Against Corruption against the remarks he made on Sunday.
Amid mounting concern over his remark, Mr Ho said in Beijing: 'Everybody knows that Hong Kong's system is open, fair and just. How can anybody know who cast blank votes?'
Mr Ho, who is a Standing Committee member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said his 'original meaning' was that committee members, having accepted their role, had to fully exercise their duty to participate in the election, and not hand in blank papers.
He claimed some in the media had taken his words out of context. He said what he meant was that those who cast blank votes might later regret it.
Legislator 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung, accompanied by fellow members of League of Social Democracy, lodged a complaint with the ICAC against Mr Ho's remarks, and called for electoral loopholes to be investigated.