Chao calls for public to be ‘guardians of election fairness’

As reported yesterday by the Times, former New Macau Association (ANM) leader Jason Chao announced this week the launch of his new election monitoring project, titled “Project Just Macau”.

The purpose of the project, hosted at JustMacau.net, is to serve as a secure communication channel for residents to submit information and complaints on the Legislative Assembly (AL) elections due to be held in September.

It aims to complement – or substitute – official channels that lack transparency, according to the social activist, while at the same time monitor Macau authorities such as the Electoral Affairs Commission.

Speaking to the Times last night, Chao said that another of the project’s major aims is to compile a public record of complaints, their nature and against whom they are directed.

“This is key because in the past we could not see how many complaints were actually investigated,” he said. “I was deeply concerned with the reporting by the authorities during previous elections […] there were a lot of things that just should not have happened.”

He said that while he has his own private expectations for the nature of the complaints, this was not the time to disclose them.

“I am hoping for wide public participation [instead],” said Chao. “It is time for all citizens to join hands and be the guardians of election fairness.”

Asked what the organization will do after receiving and handling the complaints, Chao said that it would forward some of them to the relevant authorities, taking note of requests for privacy and anonymity.

However, in taking up the role of watchdog, Chao risks the ire of the government that has on previous occasions clamped down on similar political activism.

A referendum on the chief executive election in 2014 provoked security forces in Macau to arrest organizers on the basis of personal privacy violations.

“The law provides no justification for me to intervene in election fairness, but there is [also] no law prohibiting citizens [from] monitoring the election,” Chao told the Times. “This [the monitoring] will allow us to check that the authorities are doing their job.”

He said that the authorities have not contacted him about the project, but admitted that it was possible they might do so in the future.

“If it poses a threat to their [the government’s] credibility… well, then I don’t know,” he said. “But we have to defend our freedom to the greatest extent under the current political circumstances.”

According to the organization’s webpage, a “Webinar on Election Monitoring” will be held on April 19 between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., where Chao will answer questions from the media and the public on a live video link.

The former ANM leader said that he was uncertain about the future of his new organization beyond the AL election’s conclusion in September. He also said he could not comment at this time on his own future political ambitions, but one way or another, he plans to stay involved in social activism.