Sze Lee Ah, who heads the electoral group Citizens Power, No. 12 on Sunday’s ballot, said yesterday that the group’s candidates and helpers had been threatened that something would happen to them if they did not withdraw from the election.
Sze, a Fujianese businessman, is the first-ranked candidate of the group while Joana Chong, who works in the real estate sector, is the second-ranked candidate. Sze’s list comprises 11 candidates.
Macau Citizens Federation Chairman Sze made the remarks at a press conference about his electoral group’s political platform at the federation’s office in Iao Hon district, Sze said his group had been receiving threats since it submitted the nominations it had collected to the Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Committee (CAEAL) a few months ago.
Newcomer Chong said she and her fellow candidates had been receiving threatening phone calls, adding that she knew some of the
callers. According to Chong, the callers said if she did not withdraw from the election, she had to be “cautious when you go out”.
Chong said she had been told that her withdrawal would be Sze’s “biggest loss”.
Sze said: “The rule of law applies in Macau. I don’t understand why these kinds of threats and oppression happen.
“We will never withdraw from the election!” Sze said, emphatically. Chong said she was “terrified” by the threats, adding that she had told Sze that she could not tolerate the threats anymore and she had even considered whether to quit.
“If anything bad happens to me, who will take care of my daughter? I have been under a lot of pressure... I can’t even live a normal life,” Chong said, close to tears.
Chong said her group had neither complained to the CAEAL nor the police about the threats. However, Chong, who told reporters
that she is a local deputy to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said she had complained to her “organisation” about the matter. She declined to name the “organisation”.
Sze said: “Come take my life if you dare! Don’t cause any trouble to my people.”
According to Chong, the threats had seriously affected her group’s election campaign activities since many group members did not dare help out. Sze was the official representative of lawmaker Chan Meng Kam’s list in the last election four years ago and one of the candidates in Chan’s list eight years ago.
Sze Lee Ah (right, front row), who heads the electoral group Citizens Power, No. 12 on Sunday’s ballot, addresses yesterday’s press conference about his electoral group’s political platform at the Macau Citizens Federation’s office in Iao Hon district, as Joana Chong (left, front row) and other fellow candidate look on. Photo: Debby Seng
