More than half of members of the Macau Legislative Assembly not directly elected

The general public can only vote in a fashion enshrined in 25(b) of the Covenant for less than half of the seats of the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly consists of 14 directly elected seats, 12 indirectly elected seats and seven appointed seats[1]. The indirectly elected seats are elected by a small number of voters in different “sectors”[2], in which most candidates have run unopposed. Getting qualified to vote or standing in indirect elections for the Legislative Assembly depends on the endorsement of clusters of black-boxed associations. For the vast majority of Macau residents outside the circle of political elites, becoming a voter[3] and standing in the election[4] are beyond their reach.

The Macau Research Group and the New Macau Association suggest the UN Human Rights Committee ask Macau, China to provide an update on a plan to introduce more directly elected seats to ensure the right to take part in public affairs through freely chosen representatives.

This article is an excerpt from a human rights report on Macau jointly submitted by the Macau Research Group and the New Macau Association to the UN Human Rights Committee in 2020. See here for the full report.

[1] Basic Law, art. 68 and Annex II.

[2] Law no. 3/2001 “Electoral Law for the Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region,” as amended by Laws no. 11/2008, no. 12/2012 and no. 9/2016, art. 22.

[3] Requirements for associations and bodies to register as legal person voters: 1) Registered with the Identification Services Bureau; 2) Have been recognised (by the Chief Executive) as belonging to the sectors for at least 4 years; and 3) Have acquired legal personality for at least 7 years.

see Law no. 12/2000 “Law of Electoral Registration,” art. 26.

[4] Candidates in indirect election must be nominated by 20% of voters within an electoral sector, see Law no. 3/2001, art. 43.