The Macau government announced yesterday that the direct and indirect elections for the local legislature will be held on September 12.
The announcement was made in an executive order, dated February 9, signed by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng.
Based on Macau’s Portuguese-style proportional representation election system, the legislature’s direct and indirect elections are customarily held on a Sunday.
Macau’s legislature has 33 members (deputies) – 14 directly elected by universal suffrage, 12 indirectly elected by registered association representatives and seven appointed by the chief executive.
The elections are held every four years. Permanent residents, irrespective of nationality and place of birth, aged at least 18 have the right to vote. Election candidates must be permanent residents aged at least 18.
Meanwhile, according to a separate executive order published in the Official Gazette today, each candidate can spend up to 3,549,622 patacas (US$443,947) on his or her election campaign, the same amount stipulated by the government for the 2017 hustings.
A total of 25 groups (“lists”) vied for the 14 directly-elected seats in the September 17, 2017 Legislative Assembly elections in which 174,872 voters cast their ballots, amounting to a voter turnout of 57.22 percent, according to official data.
The lowest number of votes that sufficed to win a directly-elected seat in the legislature’s hemicycle amounted to 8,348 in 2017.
Hotline for complaints
Meanwhile, the Electoral Affairs Commission of the Legislative Assembly Election and the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) announced yesterday the setting-up of a hotline for complaints that might arise in the run-up and during the legislature’s direct and indirect elections in September.
The launch of the hotline, which starts operating today, was announced by Electoral Affairs Commission Chairman Tong Hio Fong and CCAC Deputy Commissioner Ao Ieong Seong during a press briefing after the meeting of officials from the two commissions at the Public Administration Building in Rua do Campo.
The hotline (28997733) will run 24/7. Citizens may also submit their election-related views and suggestions via www.ccac.org.mo.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Affairs Commission yesterday also announced its schedule for election-related events.
On Thursday, the commission will start to distribute application forms for those wishing to establish nomination committees on behalf of those seeking to run in the elections. The deadline for the nomination-committee applications will be June 15.
Each registered voter is entitled to endorse the nomination committee of only one candidacy list.
According to the Legislative Assembly Election Law, only political associations and nomination committees have the right to nominate candidacy lists for the direct-election process.
For directly-elected seats, a nomination committee shall contain at least 300 and no more than 500 registered voters. Regarding the indirect elections, each nomination committee must be formed by at least 20 percent of the associations in the respective functional constituency, yesterday’s statement by the Electoral Affairs Commission pointed out.
As of December 31, 325,180 voters were registered for the direct elections. A total of 813 voters were registered for the indirect elections.
Tong reaffirmed yesterday that only in-person voting is allowed in Macau. He also said that the official election campaign period will run from August 28 to September 10. Tong, a judge by profession, also said that all potential candidates must pledge allegiance to the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and MSAR Basic Law in order to have their candidature officially recognised by the commission.
Tong said that anyone barred by the commission from running in the election over the allegiance requirement would be entitled to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal (TUI).
Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election Chairman Tong Hio Fong (fourth from left) and Deputy Commissioner of the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) Ao Ieong Seong (third from right), flanked by fellow members of the Electoral Affairs Commission, address the media after their closed-door meeting at the Public Administration Building in Rua do Campo yesterday. Photo: GCS
