Election Law revision to reach AL by end of August

The revision of the Legislative Assembly (AL) Election Law will be treated as a matter of urgency by the government, who has pledged to submit the bill to the AL for consideration and approval by the end of August this year, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sónia Chan, informed yesterday in a press conference held at the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ).
The press conference aimed to present the results of a public consultation held on the proposal to amend the Electoral Law, which according to the government received a total of 225 opinions.
According to Chan, even though concrete figures were not presented at the conference, “the majority of the opinions were favorable to the government proposal.” Chan’s statement was reaffirmed by the director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP), Kou Peng Kuan, who presented the results of the public consultation.
Divided into four main chapters, the contents of the proposal aimed to improve the Electoral Law by establishing a new regime that makes compulsory the “declaration from people as well as entities of their intention of support and to have promotion actions regarding a candidate,” Kou said, adding that “[the government] will set a limit for the expenses of the promotion campaigns of the candidates and we are going to have a control of and reinforcement on the inspection measures.” Kou did not reveal the ceiling to be implemented, remarking, “[it] will be discussed further in the legislative process,” and adding further, “the accounting system of the candidates campaigns need to be confirmed by an auditor.”
One of the novelties proposed by the new regime is the addition of a “criminal responsibility” to individuals, even when acting in the name of associations or groups, in order to “discourage electoral fraud and misconduct.”
Another aspect to be added is regarding the “reinforcement to the combat of electoral illegal actions,” in the extension of the application of the Electoral Law to “facts occurred abroad.” The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) assistant commissioner, Lam Chi Long, explained, “although the Legal Cooperation Law is still not in force, we have a judiciary protection law from 2006 that allows us to apply this procedure,” and expressed hope on a fruitful cooperation from neighboring authorities on this matter.
In order to improve the workings of the elections committee, the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) will include representatives from the Public Prosecutions Office (MP). The CAEAL will also be formed earlier than previous elections.
Additionally, the CAEAL will have added powers, namely in the treatment of misdemeanors in cooperation with the Public Security Police Force (PSP) and the CCAC, and the legal power of its decisions (after being published in the newspapers and on the AL Elections website).
The last chapter was reserved for another innovation of the new law that creates a norm to limit the access to the post of lawmakers for people accumulating functions in other countries and territories, disallowing the participation of people under a rule called “double loyalty,” since, as mentioned by the Secretary Chan “the legislators have to swear an oath to be fully committed to China and to Macau territory,” she explained.
This new rule follows others that aim to prevent the participation of former legislators that have renounced their mandates in a supplementary election, a measure to prevent cases similar to that which occurred in Hong Kong in 2010 when five pro-democracy legislators resigned in a bid to pressure Beijing authorities for full democracy in the territory.