Macau Passes First Reading of Bill Amending Chief Executive Election Law

Image of a street in Macau, taken in 2012 (Wikimedia Commons)

Macau’s Legislative Assembly held the first reading of a bill attempting to amend its Chief Executive (CE) Election Law on October 16. The CE Election Law details the system of, and the procedures related to, the electoral process of the chief executive. The bill passed the reading with a unanimous affirmative vote; the amendment aims to both strengthen national security through closer vetting of the allegiance of candidates and “[criminalize] the act of inciting election committee members not to vote.”

The chief executive is the head of Macau’s government, chosen by a 400-member election committee every five years. Currently, candidate eligibility legislation mandates loyalty to Macau, the People’s Republic of China, and Macau’s Basic Law, but does not require formal written confirmation of these elements. The amendment, originally submitted by the government in August, now proposes that chief executive candidates must sign a declaration confirming their agreement to these specifications. Additionally, Macau’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security will now determine whether candidates are truly upholding the agreements, including by assessing their disloyalty. If a candidate is disqualified based on the committee’s findings, the candidate would not be allowed under the bill to appeal the decision through judicial means.  

The amendment also aims to address the public incitement of voting abstention and of invalid voting. It proposes a punishment of up to three years in prison for this crime. However, Secretary of Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon stresses the distinction between incitement and individual choice, stating that members who “are voting of their own free will are not breaking the law.”

Members of the Legislative Assembly also voiced their thoughts on the proposed bill during the session, with many favoring all of the changes. Lawmaker Ron Lam U Tou inquired about whether the appeal mechanism could be retained, imploring, “We respect the fact that the state has full authority over Macau and the principle of ‘patriots governing Macau,’ but as for the appeal mechanism, can we keep it?” 

Other lawmakers disagreed with this perspective. Lawmaker Vong Hin Fai said that the proposed prevention of a disqualified candidate from appealing the decision in the bill was “in line with the Law on Safeguarding National Security that was passed by the Legislative Assembly this year [...] the decision made by the Committee for Safeguarding National Security…is a political decision [and] according to the Law on the Judicial Organization, political acts are not administrative behavior and no judicial appeal can be filed.” Thus, according to Vong, the lack of an appeal mechanism is in agreement with the legal definitions and restrictions previously proposed. 
The Legislative Assembly and government aim to officially pass the bill by the end of the year in anticipation of the upcoming 2024 election, according to Cheong.