Former lawmaker says Basic Law is Macau’s biggest advantage

During a talk at the Rui Cunha Foundation, former Macau lawmaker Leonel Alberto Alves deemed Macau’s Basic Law as the city’s biggest advantage for its future development.

Alves, recalling old conversations with friends, said that “Macau will not be weakened, [as] its biggest advantage lies in the Basic Law.”

In Alves’ eyes, many mainlanders and even Portuguese people do not know where Macau is, which makes it more difficult to promote Macau’s Basic Law.

“Some content in the Basic Law can preserve the specifics of Macau. Macau holds its freedom of draft [regarding its own law], and Macau has the right of final adjudication [whereas cities or provinces in] mainland China [do] not have the right of final adjudication,” said Alves.

According to the former lawmaker, Macau’s Basic law needs to continue maintaining social stability and sovereignty, and increasing the development of the economy.

“Macau is not a place for politics. Macau is a place for business operations, while facing a certain level of challenge. Nowadays, Macau is the platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries, and one of the biggest advantages for Macau is being able to join the development of the Greater Bay Area,” said Alves.

When talking about the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ policy, Alves expressed his disagreement towards the ‘Two Systems’ term.

“I do not particularly enjoy talking about the one or two systems. I strongly disagree with it [the Two Systems designation]. It should not be mainland China having one system, and Macau having another. What is the development trend? Different people will have different interpretations [regarding what is included as part of the two systems]. They will think that socialism is successful, that therein are advantages. […] For instance, in terms of land issues, actually, [the] mainland’s land laws have more advantages than ours,” said Leonel Alves.

The former lawmaker went on to note that the origins of Macau’s law trace back to Portugal, and that such a fact offers Macau a helping hand to merge into the development of the Greater Bay Area.

“Through this mutual communication and different cooperation agreements, and through the connection of different [legal] systems, I believe that Macau will not become isolated from the Greater Bay Area development. I hope that, politically, [Macau] can merge into it,” said Alves.

Alves warns of potential ‘Political Police’

IN RESPONSE to recent remarks by Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak, Leonel Alves is warning that a new department to address state security matters may result in the presence of a ‘political police’ in Macau. The former lawmaker, who is also a lawyer, was referring to the proposals currently under consideration by the Secretariat for Security to establish a new department that would supervise issues related to the National Security Law. He noted with disapproval that the establishment of such an entity may result in the creation of a political police.