The Macau Basic Law Promotion Alliance candidacy list (澳門基本法推廣宣傳工作聯盟), No.13 on the ballot for Sunday’s direct Legislative Assembly election, puts special emphasis – as its name suggests – on measures promoting the importance of the Macau Basic Law and its relationship with residents’ daily lives.
Irrespective of its name, the list’s campaign platform for Sunday’s election covers various other topics such as wealth redistribution, measures for disadvantaged groups, youth development, housing, the hiring of non-local professionals, land reclamation, Hengqin’s development, and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The Macau Basic Law Promotion Alliance list is running in the legislative election for the first time. The list is headed by Zhou Xinzheng, 63, the director of the local Chinese-language newspaper Macau Legal Paper.
Zhou, a legal scholar, moved to Macau from the mainland around 15 years ago.
The Macau Basic Law Promotion Alliance list now only comprises four candidates after one candidate withdrew from the election last month, which occurred after the Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) had published the final list of accepted candidates early last month.
The list’s number-two candidate is U Chi Leng, 57, a self-employed resident.
The Macau Basic Law took effect on December 20, 1999 when the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) was established.
The platform says that the list’s primary mission is to promote the Macau Basic Law among the population. “With the assistance of the MSAR government and various sectors of civil society, the list aims to promote the Macau Basic Law to residents,” the platform says.
The platform calls for a “fair and just civil society with the rule of law”, based on the Macau Basic Law.
The platform says that the list “aims to enable residents to understand the function of the Basic Law in Macau, telling residents how to protect their political rights, personal safety and property by making good use of the Basic Law”.
Zhou has told reporters that his candidacy list aims to contribute to the sound operation of Macau’s rule of law. Zhou has also said that he has been highly interested in Macau’s legal system since he moved to Macau from the mainland over a decade ago.
Zhou said he realised that Macau’s laws do seriously lag behind the city’s economic development, adding that that’s why he decided to try to become a lawmaker so that he can contribute to the city’s legislative work.
Zhou has told the media that his candidacy list would resolutely safeguard the legal authority of the nation’s Constitution and the Macau Basic Law. He said that his list is committed to becoming the “guardian” of the MSAR’s constitutional order, while strictly monitoring public governance and pushing officials to dedicate themselves to serving residents. The list also pledges to assist in the full implementation of the “patriots governing Macau” principle.
The platform urges the government to strengthen its measures on wealth redistribution.
In addition, the platform calls for more land reclamation projects and for Hengqin to be developed into “the second Macau”.
The platform also calls for increased transparency of the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) operation.
The number-one and number-two candidates of the Macau Basic Law Promotion Alliance direct-election list, Zhou Xinzheng (third from left) and U Chi Leng (second from left), and the list’s campaign team members pose in Praça do Tap Seac shortly after the start of the election campaign at 00:00 on August 28. Photo: MPDG
