The city is not ready to establish laws to govern political parties, pan-democratic heavyweight Audrey Eu Yuet-mee says.
Eu, chairwoman of the Civic Party and a former lawmaker, spoke in the light of debate on upcoming electoral reform of the chief executive and Legislative Council ballots.
Currently, political parties are registered as companies under the Companies Ordinance or as societies under the Societies Ordinance.
There is no law to specifically regulate their operation.
Eu, who is also a barrister, believes Hongkongers have to first change their perception that politics is dirty.
"This is not a good moment to legislate for political parties, but we have to start changing their mentality," she said.
"When I was running for Legco, people [tended to] go for independent candidates. But there is no such thing as 'independent'.