A record voter turnout sprung its fair share of surprises on Sunday as three new candidates won seats in Macau’s Legislative Assembly in the wake of last month’s devastating Typhoon Hato.
A total of 174,872 people cast their votes in yesterday’s election, which saw key issues surrounding the city’s response to Typhoon Hato become a key platform for the 186 candidates from 24 groups, officially known as lists. Ten people lost their lives during the storm with another 244 injured.
Among those to win one of the 14 directly elected seats in the Legislative Assembly for the first time were Sulu Sou from the group New Macau Progressives, who will become Macau’s youngest ever lawmaker at just 26 years of age. New Macau Progressives, which is pro-democracy and wants greater freedoms for individuals, has called for universal suffrage to ensure all legislators are elected directly by the people. Of the 33 seats up for grabs in this year’s election, only 14 were directly elected with 12 indirectly elected and seven nominated by Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On.
Another, Agnes Lam from the Civic Watch group, has promised to focus on minorities. Ms Lam is Assistant Dean of the University of Macau’s Faculty of Social Sciences.
The third newcomer, Leong Sun Iok – Vice President of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions – was the second-ranked candidate for the Union for Development (UPD) which wants greater protection of workers’ rights including ongoing prohibition of the hiring of foreigners as casino dealers and table game supervisors. Lead candidate Ella Lei Cheng I was also elected, with the UPD attracting the second most total votes of any group.
Macau-Guangdong Union – led by Mak Soi Kun and Zheng Anting, attracted the most votes with 17,207 after campaigning on issues of livelihood. Among its platforms was a minimum MOP$10,000 monthly pension for over-65 and policies to improve housing affordability for young people.
Managing Director and CEO of SJM Holdings, Angela Leong, was one of a handful of candidates with links to local casino operators to win a seat with the New Macau Development Union representative returning for a fourth term.
However, the pro-establishment Macau United Citizens Association (ACUM) lost two of its three seats with only Si Ka Lon winning another term. Former ACUM representative Chan Meng Kam – owner of Hotel Golden Dragon, Chairman of City University of Macau and legislator since 2005 – chose not to run.
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