DSAJ warns unnoficial referendum organizers

The Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) Director, Cheong Weng Chon, has said that if the unofficial referendum organized by the Open Macau Society and other groups is only an opinion poll, there would not be any legal issue involved. Nevertheless, he warned that it could become a criminal matter if the result of the poll is released before the official Chief Executive election result is announced.
Cheong Weng Chon said that the Basic Law protects residents’ right to freedom of speech. “However, I have to stress that, according to the Chief Executive Election Law, there are some regulations on the surveys and polls that are carried out during the election period that are related to the CE election,” he said.
“To put it simply, before the announcement of the official election result, the results of these CE election-related polls cannot be released, because they should not affect the process of the election… [The release of a polling result before an official result] is clearly violating the law and offenders will be punished accordingly,” the director said.
As for the rumor that he is the candidate for the job of Secretary for Administration and Justice in the new government, Cheong Weng Chon said that he has not heard about it and that nobody has discussed this with him.