New Hope proposes to be the ‘list for all people’

The “New Hope,” the candidacy list led by lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho, claims to be the “list for all people of Macau”, regardless of their origins or language, the group said yesterday during a press conference held to present the political platform.

Holding a seat at the Legislative Assembly (AL) since 2005, the group, historically rooted and supported by the Macau Civil Service Association (ATFPM), claims it wants to be more than a group that represents the interests of civil servants; it wants to become a voice of all sectors of society at the AL.

Following this idea, the group said it has produced Chinese, Portuguese, and English campaign materials to reach different communities.

With a very long list of ambitions organized into 16 different areas, the New Hope proposes to fight for matters such as the establishment of a system to attribute one public housing unit per resident, indexed to the birthrate, and measures to ensure priority for residents in accessing job posts.

Still, on employment-related measures, the list led by Pereira Coutinho wants to expand the period of attribution of unemployment subsidy to 120 days (four months), penalize termination without just cause, and implement an annual salary update of 10% for the minimum wage.

Regarding the general well-being of the population, the list proposes to fight to establish a permanent wealth partaking scheme that would distribute a minimum of MOP15,000 annually.

In addition to this scheme, New Hope proposes issuing MOP10,000 worth of yearly support for consumption through “electronic consumption cards”.

The list also proposes converting the current health vouchers, which can only be used in private medical institutions, into multifunctional vouchers valued at MOP1,000 annually.

Also, on health, the list proposes that access to primary health care services be free for all residents.

On other benefits, the group also calls for eliminating tuition fees for residents of Macau’s public universities and increasing scholarships and subsidies for those who study in private institutions.

On measures to support families, the list proposes expanding the legal maternity leave in the private sector to 90 days to match that in the public sector and the general policy on the mainland.

The same group also proposes better working conditions for gaming professionals. It wants local casino workers to be paid extra for working different shifts overnight and receive risk subsidies, following the labor law provisions that should apply to everyone, but that are currently only followed in what concerns the civil servants.

On the AL work, Pereira Coutinho noted that it is necessary to insist on opening the Standing Committees to the media, an aspect that he has been calling for several years, and that he admitted the recently approved law was “a step backwards”.

The new law, recently approved, states that only the president and the secretary of the committees can discuss the topics, making the committees’ work even more secret and hidden from society’s scrutiny. He pointed out that it makes no sense that in neighboring Hong Kong, there is a live TV channel broadcasting everything that happens in the “LegCo,” yet they want to prevent the public from accessing lawmakers’ work in Macau.

Additionally, to increase transparency, he wants to regulate the conflicts of interest and incompatibilities of high-ranking officials and lawmakers to prevent people from profiting from these privileged positions.

Pereira Coutinho also suggests a voluntary early retirement program for civil servants, allowing them to retire after 20 years of service.

This system, he said, would not only enable civil servants to retire early but also create more job openings, helping to address the high unemployment rate among younger generations.

In the same press conference, the second candidate, Chan Hao Weng, noted that the list’s goals still include electing “at least one candidate.”

He pointed out the challenge of electing a second candidate in an election with only eight lists running, recognizing that the New Hope list has the fewest resources of all those competing for the AL and encouraging voters to see this list as a “useful” or “strategic” vote.