The secretary for home affairs yesterday accused new lawmaker Anson Chan Fang On-sang of being a 'sudden democrat' who 'suddenly cares about people's livelihood'.
The former chief secretary decried the comments by Tsang Tak-sing as a 'provocation and personal attack' and her allies demanded an apology for what they called a public humiliation of Mrs Chan on her first day in Legco.
But Mr Tsang did not respond to calls for him to withdraw the remarks he made during a Legislative Council motion debate on social enterprises.
The row erupted when Mrs Chan, after being sworn into office, gave her maiden speech during the debate, in which she thanked the public for their support and the hopes they had placed in her.
With reference to her election promises of addressing the widening wealth gap, Mrs Chan said the government should have done more to help people help themselves.
'Democracy and people's livelihood cannot be separated and without democracy, there would not be justice and underprivileged groups would not receive the care they should get,' she said, adding she had seen the difficulties faced by these groups on her campaign trail.
But Mr Tsang, who was speaking on behalf of the government, launched an attack on Mrs Chan.