The Electoral Affairs Commission has announced that the campaigning period for the election of the Chief Executive Election Committee members will start at midnight on June 1, and end at 11:59 p.m. on June 14, running for a total of two weeks. Any promotion outside of this period is strictly forbidden by the law. The election will be held on June 16.
According to the Basic Law, the Chief Executive is to be elected by a “widely representative Election Committee,” which in this election consists of 400 electors, proportionally from the business sector; cultural, education, and professional sectors; the labor, social service, and religion sectors; as well as the law-making bodies and consultative bodies in Macau and Beijing.
In addition, anybody having the intention to run for the top post should obtain nominations from at least 66 electors from the concerned Election Committee, apart from meeting other requirements stated in the Basic Law.
The upcoming campaigning period is for those empowered to elect the electors that will comprise the Election Committee, and not for Chief Executive candidates themselves.
As the Election Committee is made up of people from various sectors, organizations meeting certain requirements set forth in the law can nominate their respective representatives for the Election Committee.
Considering that the opinions of organizations within a sector may differ, an election is held to determine which members will be represented in the Election Committee prior to the Chief Executive Election.
The legal requirement for an elector is an individual – or “natural person” – who can only represent one entity, or “legal person.” Accordingly, two nominations for the Election Committee Member Election have been voided by the Electoral Affairs Committee for attempting to represent more than one entity.
At present, Legislative Assembly President Ho Iat Seng is the only declared candidate for the upcoming Chief Executive election. If approved by the Election Committee, he will be the third person to serve in the role since the 1999 handover. Staff reporter
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