‘New Hope’ and UMG surprise with unexpected candidates list

The nomination committees for the lists of the “New Hope” (Nova Esperança) and Macau-Guangdong Union (UMG) were finally delivered to the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) before the deadline, which ended yesterday afternoon.

Both groups presented some surprises in their list of candidates, namely the UMG, which presents an almost complete revamp of their representatives this year.

Heading the UMG group is now Joey Lao, who aims to return to the Legislative Assembly (AL), this time as a directly elected lawmaker.

Lao has previously served a term at the AL as a CE-appointed lawmaker in an academic capacity. He was appointed to the role by former CE Chui Sai On in 2017, having ended his term in 2021.

Lao will be seconded by Kenny Lee, former head of the Macau Goldsmiths’ Guild. This move drops both current lawmakers of UMG, Zheng Anting and Lo Choi In.

Lo served only one legislative term (2021-2025), while Zheng was a lawmaker for three consecutive terms (2013-2025), the first two (2013-2021) as the second candidate on the lists led by Mak Soi Kun.

As for the New Hope, the list of candidates continues to be headed, as expected, by José Pereira Coutinho, but presents Chan Hao Weng as the second candidate.

During the nomination committee’s delivery, Pereira Coutinho explained the replacement of Che Sai Wang (currently a lawmaker and elected in second place in 2021) by citing his lack of time to dedicate to AL work, as he has other professional responsibilities.

Initially, Rita Santos was expected to be the second candidate on the New Hope list. She justified her step down from the Councilor for Portuguese Communities last year by citing her preparation for the AL elections this year.

Questioned by the media on the topic, Pereira Coutinho denied that the changes to the list (and the postponement of the nomination committee’s deadline) were related to the ongoing investigation involving Santos regarding her alleged illegal interference in the 2024 Portuguese legislative elections.

When she stepped down from her role at the Council for Portuguese Communities, the bilingual weekly newspaper of Macau, Plataforma, published that Santos’s move could be related to two criminal cases in which she was being investigated: one associated with the Portuguese elections and another related to a probe into the unlawful expedition of visas to Portugal.

To the media, Pereira Coutinho refuted any relation between those facts and Santos’s non-listing for the elections, claiming that he was “the Cristiano Ronaldo of the New Hope list.”

In February of this year, Pereira Coutinho observed that competing for the directly elected seats at the AL is becoming more challenging. He anticipates his group, supported by the Macao Public Servants Association, will only be able to elect one lawmaker in the upcoming elections.

“We’re analyzing; the changes are drastic, and there are already movements in society in terms of gifts, trips, and so on [by other groups]. And I believe holding a seat for the New Hope list would be an excellent result for the next AL elections,” he added.