Policy Address – Sonia Chan | Political reform, the skeleton in the closet

Political reform was, perhaps inadvertently, the issue that dominated yesterday’s presentation of Sonia Chan’s office’s action plan for 2017. The Secretary for Administration and Justice was confronted by lengthy and repeated interventions from pro-democrat lawmakers Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam San.

In her initial speech, Ms Chan said that the priority would be to prepare the next Legislative Assembly  (AL) election, to be held in 2017, making sure that it is characterized by “impartiality, justice, publicity and integrity.” But this enumeration didn’t seem to convince Ng Kuok Cheong, who claimed that “residents expect universal suffrage” and nothing was done in that regard. “The political reform is stalled,” he said. Ng ironized that society now is, “harmonious and stable,” hence the government should now advance with the reform, instead of waiting for more “chaotic” times.

Au Kam San contested the official stance in Macau regarding political reform. The lawmaker disagreed with the government’s claim that the reform needs to be promoted by Beijing. He noted that the Basic Law indicates that the MSAR government is entitled to present a report on reform to the NPC Permanent Committee.  “The government must drop the rubber stamp election,” he said.

Sonia Chan replied that changes to the way the Chief Executive is elected are not expected for now. “We are not thinking about changing the law to elect the CE, but I believe that the Electoral College has been expanded, with more 100 members,” she said. Chan noted that there has been some evolution in terms of the local political system since 2013, with amendments to the AL election law recently introduced.

Once again, the opinion of the pro-democracy lawmakers contrasted with Sonia Chan’s view, with Au Kam San denying that there has been any development since 2012 regarding the “democratic component” of the AL. He added that the measure of implementing the so-called “+2+2” formula (adding two directly elected and two indirectly elected lawmakers) did not contribute to promoting democracy in Macau.

Questioned over the establishment of a municipal body holding no political power, the Secretary for Administration and Justice argued that the new body would “serve the population and provide advice to the government. The new entity would have to be “articulated” with the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), said Chan, following speculation that IACM could be extinguished. More details will be unveiled during a public consultation that the government will “try to launch” this year.

Ng Kuok Cheong recalled that he had previously questioned the Chief Executive over the municipal body role and had been told that a reply would be given in the second semester of this year. He said that the process seems to be moving very slow, with no significant developments. Ng also argued that the members of the future municipal body should be directly elected, which would lead to better management.

Other topics discussed yesterday included the administrative revamp, with several lawmakers questioning Sonia Chan about the next steps to be taken. One of them was Chan Meng Kam, who said that the number of civil servants has been growing significantly since the establishment of the MSAR.

Sonia Chan said that there are currently 32,800 civil servants and the number is expected to grow to 36,000. She justified the tendency mentioned by Chan Meng Kam as the result of Macau’s fast development after the Handover, which necessitated the expansion of services. Now, the priorities are changing, she argued:

“The economy is stable and this is the opportunity to review the structure of public services and enhance administrative efficiency,” she said, listing measures to achieve that, like “reformulating careers, improving the moral of civil servants and ensuring upwards mobility.”

The administrative revamp will continue with 13 services, including the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), the Macau Economic Services (DSE), the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the Transportation Infrastructure Office (GIT) and the Office for the Development of the Energy Sector (GDSE).

Sonia Chan was the first to present her action plan following the chief executive’s delivery of the Policy Address last week. Lawmakers today will continue to discuss Ms Chan’s cabinet policies.

Action pending court ruling

The government was criticized for reported inaction in the Pearl Horizon case affecting thousands of pre-sales buyers. Sonia Chan denied such claims, saying that the government is following the case and an interdepartmental group has been created. “However, we need to know about the court’s ruling on the case, before that any stance would be unreal,” she said.

Easier payments

Questioned about the implementation of the “electronic government,” Sonia Chan said that there are 70 booths currently operating, providing 23 different services to residents. The secretary said that a new function would be introduced soon, allowing residents to make payments related to government services.