AL Election | New Macau leadership in disarray as list deadline encroaches

New Macau Association members pictured last year

Scott Chiang, the former president of New Macau Association (ANM) announced his resignation from the pro-democracy group this week, leaving ANM’s leadership vacant just months before the 2017 Legislative Assembly (AL) elections are due to kick off and weeks before the election lists are due.

Speculation is rife over the reasons for his imminent and unusually-timed resignation, which was made public on his social media page.

One popular suggestion, among those who are close to Chiang and the inner workings of New Macau, is that he has left due to internal disagreements over the upcoming election and who should be put forward on the ANM list.

Others say that long-running generational divides within New Macau may have reached a culmination this week, after months of unusual inactivity.

ANM, which held frequent events and demonstrations last year protesting a range of issues from the rights of Macau residents to the preservation of culture and architectural heritage, has been relatively quiet in the first five months of this year.

Speaking to the Times yesterday, Chiang said the frequency of events and demonstrations organized by the group has fallen in recent months because the public are more wary of being affiliated with political associations. They are therefore reluctant to be involved in such activities.

Chiang said that public sentiment today in Macau suggests that if a person joins a demonstration over a particular issue, it is in some way an endorsement of the principles of the organizer. However, speaking to the Times, the former ANM president denied that this was the cause behind his recent resignation.

“It is 2017 and people have become a lot more sensitive about activities [like ANM used to organize] and who they are organized by. You see people wearing masks to hide their identity at these protests. People see it as an endorsement of the organizers [if they join demonstrations],” he said.

“I don’t think New Macau has lost touch with the people,” he added in response to a question about the relevance of the association today. “We have a comprehensive understanding of people across the spectrum. Where we choose to stand depends on what benefits the society more.”

Chiang’s resignation, which will take effect from June 9, leaves the leadership role of the pro-democracy association wide open, only months before the September 17 AL election.

In a message posted on social media, Chiang hinted that “a due process may tell the difference between the qualities of being right and wrong, lawful and unlawful, just and unjust. After all, the end does not always justify the means.”

Chiang was involved in several controversies last year during which time he served as New Macau’s president.

In August, Chiang and another ANM member were arrested on suspicion of being behind the hoisting of a black banner on the derelict Hotel Estoril in Tap Seac Square, disrupting the inauguration ceremony of the Wushu Masters Challenge event. The banner, which read “Alexis Tam: Heritage Killer”, was seen as an embarrassment to the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, who was in attendance of the event at the time of the incident.

A case was opened against Chiang but the former leader was never formally charged or prosecuted.

Asked whether the open case could impact the ability of New Macau to hold public events in the run-up to the election, Chiang said: “I am not the only one [at New Macau] who is under investigation; there are [open] cases against many of us.”

Nevertheless he warned that “someone with power is happy to see these investigations hanging over our heads and they could put pressure on us [during an election].”

Political scientist Éric Sautedé, who closely follows Macau affairs, reckons it is more likely that Chiang’s departure is the result of internal divisions within ANM.

“Given that he announced the resignation through social media, that it was very sudden and that the timing was unusual [… leads me to suspect] that there was some internal fighting or disagreement with the [election] strategy,” Sautedé told the Times last night.

He noted that ANM have been “less visible and active this year, which is crazy since it is an election year and the other groups are pre-campaigning now,” but put that down to internal disagreements.

“There was something that couldn’t be reconciled within the group,” in his assessment. “It reflects the situation of New Macau at the moment: extremely divided. […] Something happened and it must have been internal. If it were anything else [but that], why not say it or explain?”

Another pertinent question surrounding the resignation of Chiang relates to the future of lawmakers Au Kam San and Ng Kuok Cheong. Having been previously elected to the AL on the New Macau list, the two legislators who will both be 60 years old by the September election, distanced themselves in the past two years from ANM citing differences in opinion.

Asked whether the lawmakers could now step in to lead the association through the election, Sautedé said it was difficult to say since Au and Ng are “so different in their way of thinking” to the others in the group. Instead, he thinks that Sulu Sou, current vice president of the organization, will step into the role.

“I think Sulu Sou is the only one who can take over now. He must take over and reconcile with the ‘old guard’ [Au and Ng]. This is the only way for them [New Macau] to move forward. They are short of resources and very divided.”