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Lusa - Business News - Macau: Leader intends to tighten election candidate criteria![]()
Macau,China,May.26,2023(Lusa)-The leader of the Macau government said on Friday that it is necessary to change election laws, particularly to tighten the criteria for candidates, two years after the exclusion of candidates associated with the pro-democracy camp. Ho Iat Seng said it was "obviously necessary to review" the electoral laws before the election of the next chief executive of the Chinese territory in 2024 and the new Legislative Assembly in 2025. Asked about creating a mechanism to vet Legislative Assembly candidates, as has already happened in neighbouring Hong Kong, Ho said this possibility "has to go through public consultation first". In March 2021, the National People's Assembly, China's parliament, passed a decision that required Hong Kong authorities to set up a committee to review the qualifications of candidates for chief executive, members of the Election Commission and local parliament. On 9 July 2021, the commission managing the Legislative Assembly elections excluded five lists and 21 candidates, 15 of whom were pro-democracy, for "not upholding the Basic Law of the MSAR [Macao Special Administrative Region]" and not being "loyal to the MSAR". The decision sidelined the pro-democracy camp, which held four seats in the Legislative Assembly, leaving the parliament with only two voices critical of the government, including Portugal's José Pereira Coutinho. Ho Iat Seng, who took office at the end of 2019, assured that he has not yet thought about whether he will run for office again: "I still have a year and a half left in my term of office". The leader of the government was speaking during a press conference to take stock of the four-day visit to the city by the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council, the Chinese executive. On Thursday, the penultimate day of the visit, Xia Baolong met with Macau's business sector, including "trade associations of Portuguese-speaking businesspeople," the government said in a statement. Ho Iat Seng gave assurances that the region would follow Xia Baolong's requests for greater diversification of Macau's economy, which is dependent on the tourism and casino sector, particularly by "strengthening links with the Portuguese-speaking countries. The chief executive said that a visit to Europe last month, including to Portugal between 18 and 22 April, had managed to "attract several investors," with "results that are not yet visible." Ho promised that Macau would "attach importance to qualified staff," although he added: "we don't just want to train, but also attract qualified staff from outside Macau." The leader of the government said that the law for attracting qualified staff, including Nobel Prize winners, would be published next week in the Official Bulletin to come into force on 1 July. VQ/ADB // ADB. Lusa Agency : LUSA Date : 2023-05-27 03:18:00
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