The Progress Promotion Union (UPP) candidacy list (群力促進會), the No. 8 on the ballot paper for the upcoming direct legislative election, puts special emphasis on measures improving residents’ daily lives in various aspects and boosting the local economy.
The list also says that it would firmly support the local government in improving its system on safeguarding national security, with the aim of ensuring that the implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle will “proceed steadily and go far”.
The UPP list is the electoral vehicle of the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (commonly known as Kai Fong in Cantonese) – one of the city’s biggest community associations, which has fielded candidates for the legislature’s direct election since 1992, when Macau was still under Portuguese administration.
Incumbent lawmaker-cum-banker Alan Ho Ion Sang, who had headed the UPP list since the 2009 direct election, is running in Sunday’s indirect election for the social services and educational sector. The list is now headed by Leong Hong Sai, 54, for the upcoming direct election, a civil engineer by profession.
Leong has been a candidate of the UPP list since the 2009 direct election, ranking fourth, seventh and fifth in 2009, 2013 and 2017 respectively.
The UPP list has won one or two seats every time since it first took part in the direct legislative election in 1992.
For the upcoming direct election, the UPP list comprises eight candidates. The list’s number-two candidate is Ngan Iek Hang, 37, who works in the banking sector. Ngan is running in the legislative election for the first time.
The list’s political platform for the September 12 election comprises five major aspects, namely daily life matters, boosting the economy, good governance, promoting development, and the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The platform urges the government to come up with a “concrete” timetable as to when its various public housing projects will get off the ground. The platform also calls for measures supporting young local people in starting their business.
The platform calls for an improved system on adjusting seniors’ pensions regularly. The platform also urges the government to boost COVID-19 vaccinations.
In addition to strengthening measures supporting residents’ employment, the platform also calls for measures to support local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as by improving transport, water and electricity supply facilities in the city’s old quarters.
The platform urges the government to improve its accountability system for officials. The platform also urges the government to give young local people more opportunities to participate in governance.
Concerning the safeguarding of national security, the platform calls for amendments to the Legislative Assembly Election Law and gradual democratic development in line with the constitutional order established by the nation’s Constitution and the Macau Basic Law. The platform also urges the government to constantly carry out educational campaigns to promote national security.
The platform calls for the acceleration of the drafting of legislation regulating the city’s urban renewal process. The platform also urges the government to finally get its flood prevention projects off the ground.
The platform calls for measures to make it more convenient for local residents to live, study or work in GBA cities in Guangdong. The platform calls for measures allowing all local vehicles to travel between Macau and Guangdong via the Zhuhai-Macau checkpoint of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB).
The number-one and number-two candidates of the Progress Promotion Union (UPP) direct-election list, Leong Hong Sai (right) and Ngan Iek Hang, wave during a campaign activity in Taipa last week. Photo: UPP
