Directly elected lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho says that the “New Hope” (Nova Esperança) group, which he represents, is expecting to lose one seat in the Legislative Assembly (AL) after this year’s elections.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the AL Spring Lunch yesterday, the lawmaker noted that it is getting harder to compete for the directly elected seats at the AL and that he expects his group, supported by the Macao Public Servants Association (ATFPM), to 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 that holding a seat for the New Hope list would already be an excellent result for the next AL elections,” he said. He added that there is also ongoing “unfair treatment” by the Chinese channels of the public broadcaster TDM, which has been giving preference to other lawmakers to speak on both radio and TV programs.
When questioned on whether this leading role would continue to be held by Pereira Coutinho or potentially move to Rita Santos, the lawmaker said that it is still to be decided by the board of directors of ATFPM, which he stated would be holding a meeting this Friday to discuss the matter.
Almost certain is the stepping down from the post of the current lawmaker Che Sai Wang.
On the matter, Pereira Coutinho added that to represent a broader range of people, someone must have a deep knowledge of both Western and Eastern cultures and be proficient in both official languages.
“It’s important to have a voice in the AL, a voice that is fluent in Portuguese and Chinese. This is extremely important because they are both official languages. [The seat] will be for whoever the ATFPM board decides. I have fulfilled this duty since 2005 and have already completed five terms.”
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