The Legislative Council said a farewell luncheon scheduled for later this week has been called off to allow lawmakers to focus on handling matters relating to the upcoming election in December.

The Legco Secretariat announced that Friday's gathering, which Chief Executive John Lee had been invited to attend, would be cancelled.

"A number of Legco members have recently expressed to the president that, as the nomination period for the new Legco election is about to begin next Friday (October 24), many members wish to focus on handling matters relating to the election at this moment," it said on Wednesday.

The Legco president has decided not to hold the luncheon after communicating with the Chief Executive's Office, the secretariat added.

With just days to go before the nomination period begins, at least 15 incumbent lawmakers have announced they won't seek re-election.

The latest to join the group were Election Committee lawmaker Dennis Lam, who's also a ophthalmologist; and Louis Loong of the Business and Professionals Alliance, currently representing the real estate and construction constituency.