The New Hope candidacy list (新希望), No.14 on the ballot paper for Sunday’s direct legislative election, urges the government to increase its annual cash handout to 12,000 patacas.
The list’s platform also calls for everybody in need to have the right to be allocated a public housing unit by the government.
This year’s amount of the annual “wealth-sharing” handout – which was paid to residents earlier this year – remained unchanged from last year at 10,000 patacas for permanent residents and 6,000 patacas for non-permanent residents.
The list is headed by incumbent lawmaker José Maria Pereira Coutinho, a retired public servant who was first elected in the direct election in 2005 after he had failed in his first election bid in 2001. Coutinho, a prominent member of Macau’s community of mixed Portuguese-Asian descent and upbringing, is a University of Macau (UM) law graduate. His parents were born in Goa.
Coutinho, 64, worked in the Economic Services Bureau (DSE) – which was upgraded to the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) early this year – where he headed the Intellectual Property Department. He also worked for the Arbitration Centre at the Macau World Trade Centre.
Coutinho is the veteran leader of the influential Macau Civil Servants Association (ATFPM).
Coutinho was re-elected in 2009, 2013 and 2017. The New Hope list won two seats in the 2013 direct election, when the list’s then number-two candidate Leong Veng Chai was elected. Leong failed in his re-election bid four years ago when he was the second-ranked candidate.
For Sunday’s direct election, the New Hope list comprises 11 candidates.
This time, the list’s number-two candidate is Che Sai Wang, a public servant. Che, 55, has been a candidate of the New Hope list since the 2013 direct election.
In its election campaign in 2017 – when the annual “wealth-sharing” handout for permanent and non-permanent residents stood at 9,000 patacas and 5,400 patacas respectively, the New Hope list then urged the government to increase its annual cash handout to 12,000 patacas.
The annual cash handout was raised to the current 10,000 patacas for permanent residents and the current 6,000 patacas for non-permanent residents in 2019.
In addition to the proposed annual cash handout of 12,000 patacas, the list’s campaign platform urges the government to allocate three percent of Macau’s annual gaming revenue as cash handout for all local residents, with the aim of “sharing the city’s wealth among all citizens”.
The platform urges the government to plan the development of its public housing projects in line with the city’s annual birth rate, with the aim of ensuring that all those in need have the right to be allocated a public housing unit.
The platform also calls for free public healthcare services “for all people”.
The platform also calls for the annual health voucher, which currently stands at 600 patacas, to be increased to 1,000 patacas. For those aged 65 or over, the platform urges the government to raise their annual health voucher to 3,000 patacas.
The platform also calls for tuition-free enrolment in the city’s tertiary education institutions.
Moreover, the list also calls for the full implementation of a five-day working week for all casino workers.
It also wants all Legislative Assembly (AL) committee meetings to be open to the media and members of the public. Customarily, the meetings are held behind closed doors.
The number-two candidate of the New Hope direct-election list, Che Wai Sang (left), speaks during a campaign activity outside a supermarket in Areia Preta district earlier this month, as the number-one candidate José Maria Pereira Coutinho looks on. Photo: MPDG
