AL elections set for Sept. 14 with unchanged campaign spending cap

The elections for the eighth term of the local Legislative Assembly (AL) have been set for September 14, 2025.

In an executive order published yesterday in the government’s official gazette (BO), the Chief Executive noted that the spending cap for each campaigning group in the AL elections will be MOP3,549,622, precisely the same amount as in the previous two elections, held in 2021 and 2017.

The amount candidates can spend while campaigning was significantly reduced in 2017 from the previous MOP5,644,278.46 established in 2013 and MOP8,942,959.84 in 2009.

When the cap was first reduced in 2017, the idea was that capping campaign spending would contribute to fairer elections. At the time, several campaign groups were accused of making high-priced offers to voters to secure their votes.

This was seen as giving a clear advantage to wealthy contestants.

The AL’s direct and indirect elections are customarily held every four years in September.

The 33 members of the AL comprise 14 directly elected seats (elected by universal suffrage), 12 indirectly elected seats (elected by sectorial groups and associations), and seven CE-appointed seats, which are nominated shortly after the elections.

The current 14 directly elected seats are occupied by representatives from the civil servants’ rights group (Macao Public Servants Association – ATFPM), the General Union of Neighborhood Associations of Macau, and the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, as well as representatives from the associations of those with links to mainland cities and provinces, which are more prominent in the Macau population.

After the disqualification of all candidates from pro-democracy camps in the 2021 elections under the justification of “lacking patriotism,” the only group not entirely aligned with Beijing and more rooted in local policies and problems that managed to secure a seat in the AL was the Association of Synergy of Macao, which elected lawmaker Ron Lam.

Recently, the representatives from the ATFPM, led by lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho, and including lawmaker Che Sai Wang, have been attempting to expand their scope of action, targeting younger generations—who in the past were more aligned with the pro-democracy camp—as well as gaming concessionaire employees and Portuguese-speaking communities in general.

Pereira Coutinho is currently the only lawmaker who uses the Portuguese language to address inquiries in the AL plenary.

According to information from the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Elections, more than 330,000 electors are registered to participate in this year’s direct election.

Four years ago, the election saw only 137,279 votes cast, accounting for the lowest rate since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region, with a voting rate of just 42%.

CAEAL bids for fair and patriotic elections

Seng Ioi Man, president of the Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL), has called for fair and patriotic elections this September.

In a press briefing after the CAEAL meeting yesterday afternoon, Seng noted that with the new regulations in force, there are extra guarantees that all candidates running in the election are patriots, thus ensuring the principle of “Macau ruled by patriots.”

He also said that CAEAL will aim to promote all election-related work to create a fairer, more just, and cleaner election environment.

The same official also sought to inform the public and voters about the election’s progress through media and promotional activities.

After the meeting, following the announcement of the election date and spending cap, the CAEAL unveiled the full calendar for the elections, which start this Thursday (March 6) with the first distribution of forms for organizing the nomination committee.

Candidate lists and political platforms must be submitted to the CAEAL by June 26.

The final candidate list will be published by July 18, and the draw to assign each group’s number will be held the next day.

All campaign propaganda is banned from June 27 until August 30, when the official 14-day election campaign starts.

All campaign activities will close on September 12, two days before polling.

The final election results will be announced in the government’s official gazette by September 29.

platform for election reports

The CAEAL announced that it has joined forces with the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) to establish a hotline and an online platform that will work around the clock to receive reports of any wrongdoing related to the AL elections.

This reporting platform will operate from today and aims to quickly forward complaints to the relevant authority, according to their content, Wong Kim Fong, Deputy Commissioner of the CCAC, said, adding that the CCAC will adopt a zero-tolerance policy for cases of wrongdoing related to the elections.