The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday passed the outline of two government-initiated bills proposing that all officials and public servants will be required to take an oath of office.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon introduced the outlines of the two bills during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday.
The two bills will now be passed to one or two of the legislature’s standing committees for article-by-article reviews, after which they will be resubmitted to another plenary session or sessions for their respective second and final debate and article-by-article vote.
The two bills, the outlines of which were passed yesterday, are one amending the current law concerning top officials and other officials of bureaus and other bureau-level entities, Law 15/2009, namely directors (or presidents), deputy directors (or vice-presidents), department chiefs, and division chiefs, as well as one amending the current regulation on public servants, i.e., the Macau Public Administration Staff Statute.
This comes after Macau’s amended oath-taking law took effect in May this year according to which members of the Chief Executive Election Committee are required to take an oath of office.
Before its amendments took effect on May 28 this year, the law regulating the oath-taking of those in the executive, legislative and judicial organs of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), Law 4/1999, covered the chief executive, principal officials, the president of the Legislative Assembly, the president of the Court of Final Appeal (TUI), the public prosecutor-general, members of the government’s top advisory Executive Council, legislators, judges, and prosecutors.
However, according to the amended version of the MSAR’s national security law, which took effect on May 30 last year, the 400 members of Chief Executive Election Committee members, all officials listed in Law 15/2009, and all public servants are also required to take an oath of office.
Consequently, the government submitted a bill amending the MSAR’s oath-taking law to the legislature early this year, namely the Law 4/1999 amendment bill which was passed by lawmakers in its final reading on May 21 and took effect on May 28, adding the Chief Executive Election Committee members to the law’s oath-taking requirements.
During yesterday’s plenary session, Cheong noted that in compliance with oath-taking requirements listed in the amended local national security law, the government has drafted the bill amending Law 15/2009 as well as the bill amending the Macau Public Administration Staff Statute.
According to Cheong, the government proposes that officials listed in Law 15/2009 will be required to take their oaths at a ceremony, while public servants in general will only be required to take their oaths by signing a declaration.
The two amendment bills with their outlines passed yesterday propose that officials listed in Law 15/2009 and public servants in general must uphold the MSAR Basic Law and bear allegiance to the MSAR.
As all those covered by the MSAR’s oath-taking law, i.e., Law 4/1999, the two amendment bills propose that officials listed in Law 15/2009 and public servants in general who refuse to take their oath of office shall be disqualified from taking office. More specifically, the government will revoke the appointments of officials listed in Law 15/2009 who refuse to take their oath and terminate the employment of public servants who refuse to take their oath, according to Cheong.
The two amendment bills propose that when taking an oath of office, those who intentionally read out words that do not comply with their oath’s respective terms, or sign a declaration in which the terms of the oath have been tampered with, will be regarded as refusing to take the oath.
According to Cheong, the two amendment bills also propose that those who take their oaths in a way that is insincere or unsolemn will also be regarded as refusing to take the oath.
The bill’s outline was passed unanimously.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon addresses yesterday’s plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle. – Photo courtesy of TDM
