This year’s direct and indirect legislative elections are scheduled to be held on Sunday, September 14, the government announced yesterday.
The polling date for the eighth-term Legislative Assembly (AL) of the Macau Special Administrative (MSAR) was announced in a chief executive order published in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday. The order was signed by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai on Friday last week.
The direct and indirect legislative elections are customarily held on a Sunday.
The MSAR Legislative Assembly election, which is held every four years, comprises direct and indirect elections. The current legislature has 33 members, comprising 14 deputies directly elected by universal suffrage, 12 deputies indirectly elected by registered association representatives and seven deputies appointed by the chief executive.
Permanent residents, irrespective of nationality and place of birth, aged at least 18 have the right to vote. Election candidates must be permanent residents aged at least 18.
Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) President Seng Ioi Man (centre) speaks during yesterday’s press briefing at the Public Administration Building, flanked by Deputy Commissioner Against Corruption (CCAC) Wong Kim Fong (third from right) as well as five CAEAL members (from left to right) Louie Wong Lok I, Mak Kim Meng, Lai U Hou, Ng Wai Han, and Daisy Ho In Mui. – Photo: Tony Wong
Candidacy lists’ spending cap remains unchanged
Meanwhile, according to a separate executive order published in the gazette yesterday, each candidacy list can spend up to 3,549,622 patacas on their 2025 election campaign, unchanged from the amount stipulated by the government for the 2021 hustings. The order was also signed by Sam on Friday last week.
Meanwhile, the Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) yesterday announced its schedule for events and formalities related to the 2025 direct and indirect legislative elections.
Schedule
On Thursday, the commission will start to distribute application forms for those wishing to establish nomination committees on behalf of those seeking to run in the elections. The deadline for the nomination-committee applications will be June 6.
Each registered voter is entitled to endorse the nomination committee of only one candidacy list.
According to the Legislative Assembly Election Law, only political associations and nomination committees have the right to nominate candidacy lists for the direct-election process.
For directly-elected seats, a nomination committee shall contain at least 300 and no more than 500 registered voters, while regarding the indirect election, each nomination committee must be formed by at least 20 percent of the associations in the respective functional constituency, according to the law.
According to the schedule, candidacy lists and their respective political platforms must be submitted to the commission by June 26, after which the commission will publish a list of provisionally accepted candidacy lists two days later.
If no objections against the commission’s decision are lodged, it will announce its list of formally accepted candidacy lists on July 18, according to the schedule.
Before the polling day on September 14, the 14-day official election campaign period will run from August 30 and September 12.
Complaint hotline & online platform
Meanwhile, the Electoral Affairs Commission and the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) announced yesterday the setting-up of a hotline for complaints that might arise in the run-up to and during the legislature’s direct and indirect elections in September.
The launch of the hotline, which starts operating today, was announced by CAEAL President Seng Ioi Man and CCAC Deputy Commissioner Wong Kim Fong during a press briefing after the meeting of officials from the two commissions at the Public Administration Building on Rua do Campo.
The hotline (2899 7733) will run 24/7. In addition, the two commissions have also set up an online platform for citizens to submit their complaints. The online platform, which started operating yesterday, can be accessed on the CCAC website.
Yesterday’s post-meeting media briefing was the first one after the Electoral Affairs Commission was established two months ago.
The commission tasked with overseeing the 2025 direct- and indirect-election process was set up in late December last year.
Including its president Seng, the commission consists of six members.
The other five members are Lai U Hou, a public prosecutor, Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) Director Ng Wai Han, Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) Vice President Mak Kim Meng, Financial Services Bureau (DSF) Deputy Director Daisy Ho In Mui, and Government Information Bureau (GCS) Deputy Director Louie Wong Lok I.
Seng, a judge of the Court of Second Instance (TSI), also noted during yesterday’s press briefing that the upcoming direct and indirect legislative elections will be the first ones after the Legislative Assembly Election Law’s new amendments took effect in April last year, which aim to ensure the full implementation of the “patriots governing Macau” principle and improve the administrative procedures for the organisation of the legislative elections.
Consequently, Seng said, the upcoming elections will be of significant importance.
According to the Legislative Assembly Election Law’s amended version, when the Electoral Affairs Commission is assessing legislative election candidates’ qualifications, it will be required to request the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the MSAR to assess whether all the candidates uphold the MSAR Basic Law and bear allegiance to the MSAR.
Seng also pledged yesterday that his commission will fully heed the appraisal made by the Committee for Safeguarding National Security, when deciding the qualifications of legislative election candidates.
