Representatives of the New Hope list submitted 500 registered voters’ signatures endorsing the group’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.
New Hope ran in the legislature’s direct election four years ago, when its first-ranked candidate was elected – current lawmaker José Maria Pereira Coutinho.
In the 2017 direct election, 25 candidacy lists vied for the 14 seats at stake.
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, Coutinho, the president of the Macau Civil Servants Association (ATFPM), said that he would continue to be the first-ranked candidate of the New Hope list this time. Coutinho said that he has decided to run in the direct election this time as he wants to continue to closely monitor the government.
Coutinho said that this time his candidacy list would focus on issues such as increased level of transparency of the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) operation and measures helping residents keep their jobs.
Coutinho said that he would continue to campaign for the legislature’s seven committees to open their meetings to the media.
The legislature’s committees customarily hold their meetings behind closed doors.
Meanwhile, representatives of the New Macau Progressive Association submitted about 400 registered voters’ signatures endorsing the group’s candidacy in the upcoming direct legislative election to the Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission.
Ex-lawmaker Paul Chan Wai Chi will be a candidate of the New Macau Progressive Association list.
In the 2017 direct election, Chan was the second-ranked candidate of the candidacy list of which current lawmaker Sulu Sou Ka Hou was its first-ranked candidate.
Chan won in the 2009 direct election. He sought re-election in 2013 and 2017, but was not re-elected on either occasion.
This time, Chan will not run with Sou on the same list.
Speaking to reporters at the Public Administration Building after submitting the signatures yesterday, Chan said that his candidacy list would focus on issues such as housing, traffic, education and urban planning.
