AL Plenary | Suppression of banners withdrawn from vote

The Legislative Assembly (AL) passed a motion yesterday to  discuss the amendment of the AL internal rules. The motion was passed, with many lawmakers voicing their opinions.

Lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong criticized some of the 23 proposals on the grounds that such proposals “might suppress lawmakers’ freedom of speech.” In particular, he referred to the suppression of banners. The votes for the proposal was supposed to be carried out yesterday afternoon, but it was withdrawn after public controversy following the AL Committee on House Rules meeting in the morning. The debate focused on the proposed suppression of banners.

“It is obvious that the orientation of the proposal is suppressing lawmakers’ freedom of speech. Government officials can display [banners, while] lawmakers cannot,” said Ng. He added that “all state leaders who visited Macau said that the city is not doing badly, and that nothing has happened in the territory. [The state leaders] are telling Macau on how it can be better administrated, but are not requiring Macau to suppress the public’s freedom of speech.”

Pereira Coutinho brought three boards with him to yesterday’s AL meeting and displayed them for a short period.

“I thought this could be the last time I would be able to display banners, so I decided to bring many,” said Coutinho.

“What does the display of banners mean? It is a kind of freedom of speech. […] It is a completely different thing from solemnity and dignity. I have never heard any residents complaining about lawmakers’ displaying banners […],” said Coutinho.

Lawmaker Leong Veng Chai said, “according to this measure [of banning the display of banners], [there will be amendments to regulate] the decibel of each lawmaker’s volume, and how many minutes [lawmakers] should raise their hands.”

Melinda Chan did not argue about the already-withdrawn proposal, but noted that the time remaining for the AL to amend these rules is short. Chan suggested that this AL leave the issues for the next assembly to discuss.

Ho Ion Sang agreed with the assessment that there was insufficient time for this AL to amend the problematic rules. He also noted that “this time, the amendment has triggered relatively big controversies and reactions from the lawmakers and society. […] Some lawmakers, in order to enhance their opinions, used boards, pictures, among other things. Such behavior [has been] all peaceful and, until now, have not disturbed the AL’s order.”

Zheng Anting said, “we think that the AL’s dignity and prestige should be respected.” However, he believes that his previous display of banners did not disturb others. “[Regulations on] the display of banners should be revised. […] For example, banners should target a specific legal bill and be forbidden to attack other people. […] If banners attack other people […] then I think they are unnecessary,” explained Zheng.

Tsui Wai Kwan expressed the same opinion as Leonel Alves, saying that the withdrawal of the article should be discussed in the future. According to Tsui, displaying banners from “3 p.m. until 8 p.m. is killing other lawmakers’ rights. […]”

While Tsui was speaking, Zheng and Coutinho were holding discussions with each other. Tsui said, “Lawmaker Zheng you should not debate now, you can talk later. This is my time.”

Coutinho added that “regarding displaying banners, it is only an excuse [to criticize the lawmakers] by talking about how long the banners are displayed. […] How come there will be 32 lawmakers displaying banners?”

Responding to  Coutinho, Alves said: “I respect your opinions, and I hope you can respect mine as well. But I feel it odd that we have talked for one hour about something that does not exist.”

Newly expressed opposition against the proposals

Prior to the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) plenary meeting, several members of New Macau Association (ANM) expressed their opposition against the recent proposal made by several lawmakers to ban the display of banners at the AL.

The group also delivered a petition signed by 541 people urging the AL to drop the proposal. 

Sulu Sou, vice-president of ANM, told the media that the group had called for the AL to withdraw the proposal that suggests banning the display of banners, and to withdraw all other proposals which will reduce lawmakers’ inquiry time during AL meetings.

Sou condemned the AL committee for bringing up the aforementioned proposals, and has further criticized similar committees.

“Seven or eight committees like the AL Regiment Committee have closed-door meetings and conduct under-the-table operations, which have already led to too many problems,” said Sou.

“This time, the AL Regiment Committee is not only blocked to the public, but is blocked to some lawmakers as well. It has led to some lawmakers feeling that they are not respected,” said Sou.

“The AL rules should not be amended like this. The amendment should be made to force all AL’s standing committees to conduct open meetings. Second, the time given to lawmakers for inquiring into and supervising the government should be increased. […] The amendment of the AL rules must follow the direction towards enhancing AL lawmakers’ right of supervising the government, so as to let the AL really build up its solemnity, prestige, and dignity,” said Sou. The ANM vice-president added that “the current AL’s composition is absurd.”

When questioned about whether Vong Hin Fai, Chairman of the AL Committee on House Rules, should be held responsible for the aforementioned proposals, Sou said that responsibility should be attributed to all committee members.

On the lawmakers’ agenda

REGULATE TAXI INDUSTRY Song Pek Kei strongly voiced the opinion that the government must immediately amend the city’s taxi regulations to improve the quality of taxi drivers. “Taxi services have already been criticized by residents. Recently, taxi fares increased again, and Uber announced its decision to step out from Macau’s market. […] The taxi service’s quality is far from good and has led to residents’ complaints about taxi services worsening,” said Song. The incomplete legal governance and inadequate deterrents against bad behavior have contributed to taxi drivers relaxing their conduct, according to Song. Therefore, she suggests that the regulations be amended.

CONSTRUCTION SAFETY Kwan Tsui Hang has questioned the authority regarding its supervision of construction projects in town, following several recent deadly accidents taking place on the city’s construction sites. Regarding these accidents, Kwan said, “besides all the sadness involved, the departments responsible for supervision are accountable for the accidents.” Kwan called for the Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL) to review its supervision and to explain the cases to the public. Following last month’s high accident record, DSAL issued suspension notices to 31 construction sites. Kwan questioned “how such a big percentage of unregulated [construction] situations exist?”

YOUTH’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION Melinda Chan has suggested that the government come up with more policies to create further opportunities for youth to participate in Macau’s politics. “I urge the government to establish a platform to encourage youth to participate in politics,” said Chan. “I suggest the government set up positions for representatives of young people and the Macanese in the government’s consultation organization, as well as establish a self-recommendation mechanism to let these young people and Macanese be able to have opportunities to participate in politics. This will drive the youth to care more about the society, to be involved in the society, and to push the society forward,” she added.