Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) head Chan Tsz King has pledged that the local anti-graft body will learn from its Hong Kong counterpart’s experience in ensuring clean elections, in preparation for the Macau Legislative Assembly’s (AL) direct and indirect elections in the autumn.
According to a CCAC statement yesterday, Chan made the remarks during a video conference, which took place “recently”, with his Hong Kong counterpart Simon Peh Yun-lu, the head of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). The statement did not give the exact date of the meeting.
The statement said that the aim of the meeting was for both graft busters to exchange views on improved integrity in the two special administrative regions (SARs)
The meeting was also attended by a number of senior officials from the two cities’ anti-graft bodies.
According to the statement, Chan noted that both Macau and Hong Kong will have their respective legislative elections this year, adding that both cities’ elections will face a big challenge due to COVID-19.
The statement quoted Chan as saying that the Macau Commission Against Corruption is keen to learn from Hong Kong’s experience in its campaigns on fighting and preventing electoral bribery, with the aim of ensuring that this year’s direct and indirect legislative elections in Macau will be held in a clean and fair manner.
The legislative elections in both SARs take place every four years. Both elections are customarily held in September.
Hong Kong postponed its 2020 legislative election for a year due to the then particularly serious COVID-19 epidemic, because of which the two special administrative regions will both have their respective legislative elections this year.
During the meeting, Chan also presented the local commission’s achievements since he took office in December 2019, including the increased number in investigators working for the commission.
According to the statement, Peh presented the ICAC development in recent years, such as joining a number of international anti-corruption organisations, holding international conferences, and jointly organising training programmes with the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA).
The two commissioners also exchanged views on cooperation in strengthening integrity in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), the statement said.
The CCAC and ICAC have the same Chinese name, “lihmjing gungchyu” in Cantonese. Directly translated, it means “Commission for Integrity”.
This combo photo provided by the Macau Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) yesterday shows its head Chan Tsz King (centre, right side) and his Hong Kong counterparts Simon Peh Yun-lu (centre, left side) taking part in a recent virtual meeting.
