Both headed by ex-journalists surnamed Lam
Representatives of the Power of Synergy group submitted 500 registered voters’ signatures endorsing the list’s candidacy in the upcoming direct legislative election to the Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) yesterday.
The direct and indirect legislative elections will take place on September 12.
The officially required maximum is 500 signatures of registered voters while the minimum number is 300. Each registered voter can only endorse one candidacy list.
Power of Synergy ran in the legislature’s direct election four years ago when 25 candidacy lists vied for the 14 seats at stake, but none of its candidates was elected.
Each list must have at least four and no more than 14 candidates.
Speaking to reporters at the Public Administration Building in Rua do Campo after submitting the signatures yesterday, Ron Lam U Tou, the president of local think tank Macau Synergy Association, said that his candidacy list would focus on issues such as traffic, housing, and measures enabling residents to share the fruits of the city’s economic development.
Lam, a former journalist, was the first-ranked candidate of the Power of Synergy list in the 2017 direct election. He is a well-known current affairs commentator.
Lam said that his candidacy list this time would comprise professionals from various sectors, adding that his list’s candidates would include young people.
Lam also said that despite the fact that his list was not elected four years ago, his think tank has been constantly working over the past four years on pushing the development of Macau’s civil society, such as by engaging in studies and discussions on public policies and urging the government to come up with measures to improve residents’ daily lives.
Agnes Lam’s list
Meanwhile, representatives of the Civic Watch list submitted 500 registered voters’ signatures endorsing the list’s candidacy in the upcoming direct legislative election to the Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission on Monday.
Civic Watch ran in the 2017 direct election, when its first-ranked was elected – current lawmaker Agnes Lam Iok Fong, a former journalist.
Speaking to reporters at the Public Administration Building in Rua do Campo on Monday, Agnes Lam, the chairwoman of the Macau Civic Power (ECM) association, said that this time her list would focus on issues such as housing, traffic, environmental protection, and measures helping residents keep their jobs.
Agnes Lam, a mass media scholar, said that her list would comprise professionals from various sectors such as the education, cultural, legal, engineering and health.
Agnes Lam also said that it would be a “challenge” for her list to gain a “good” understanding of residents’ needs amid the ongoing COVID-19 predicament.
In the direct election four years ago, the Civic Watch list garnered 9,590 votes, while the Power of Synergy list obtained 7,162 votes.
The 33-member Macau Legislative Assembly (AL) comprises 14 deputies directly elected by universal suffrage, 12 deputies indirectly elected by association representatives and seven deputies appointed by the chief executive after the direct and indirect elections.
Macau’s direct elections are based on the proportional representation system that tends to benefit small groups.
Groups running in the direct and indirect elections are known as “lists” that are newly formed or reactivated several months before the elections which are held every four years. There are no Western-style political parties in Macau.
