PCCW chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai said the public should 'trust, but verify and monitor' Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in his work towards implementing universal suffrage in 2012.
Mr Li, a member of the Election Committee that will choose the next chief executive on March 25, earlier said he believed Mr Tsang would be more effective in resolving the issue of universal suffrage in his second term.
Mr Li and 11 other information technology subsector Election Committee members met Mr Tsang yesterday at his campaign office in Wan Chai to discuss issues of concern.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Li said the staging of public debates between the chief executive candidates was a victory for Hong Kong and had moved democracy issues a small step forward.
Mr Li, who made calls for 'real democracy' during his successful bid for a seat on the 796-member panel that will elect the next chief executive, said he would not attend a rally for universal suffrage organised by the pan-democrats on Sunday as he would not be in Hong Kong.
Asked whether Beijing and his father, tycoon Li Ka-shing, had exerted pressure on him over his vote for chief executive, Mr Li said: 'You reporters are putting pressure on me.'