Macau’s hustings for the direct and indirect Legislative Assembly elections began at 0:00 today.
The polls consist of the direct election of 14 lawmakers by popular vote and the indirect election of 12 legislators by association representatives.
A total of 14 lists comprising 128 candidates are running in the direct election – 9.1 candidates per seat up for grabs.
In the run-up to the elections, five candidacy lists were disqualified by the Electoral Affairs Commission of the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) on July 13 from the direct election for various reasons such as disloyalty to the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and disrespect for the Macau Basic Law. The appeals by the trustees of three of the lists were turned by Macau’s top court, the three-judge Court of Final Appeal (TUI), on July 31.
The direct and indirect elections will take place on Sunday, September 12.
The indirect election is a fait accompli as there are only 12 candidates for the 12 seats at stake.
The Electoral Affairs Commission has set aside 18 public venues for the election campaign which ends at 11:59 p.m. on September 10. Campaigning is not allowed on the eve of the elections.
The commission has imposed strict COVID-19 prevention and control measures on the campaign activities such as crowd management.
Macau’s elections are based on the proportional representation system. There are no political parties in Macau. Customarily, community organisations set up ad hoc candidacy lists in the run-up to the elections that are held every four years.
The chief executive of the MSAR appoints seven lawmakers within 15 days after polling day. Of the legislature’s 33 members (“deputies”) 42.4 percent are directly elected by universal suffrage, 36.4 percent are indirectly election by association representatives and 21.2 percent are appointed by the chief executive.
Article 68 of the Macau Basic Law states that the majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly “shall be elected.”
Macau has an executive-led political system. Lawmakers' bills relating to government policies require the chief executive's written consent before they can be submitted to the legislature, according to Article 75 of the Macau Basic Law.
Permanent residents aged at least 18 have the right to vote and to be elected, irrespective of nationality.
The associations participating in the indirect election comprise representatives from the business, labour, professional, educational, sports and other sectors.
A total of 25 lists (one of which withdrew before polling day) competed in the 2017 direct election.
