Rear Window | Unstoppable machine

Severo Portela

Given the lousy days rolling on the MSAR, we guess the mood within the unbreakable New Macau Association (ANM) party… to not say ANM’s lot of pro-democracy die-hards…should be one of full circle pessimism: the angst of being out of time and out of place.

We will have to excuse ourselves for the absurdity of the introduction above, but we take it as a necessary tempering of the reality of three new cases of alleged aggravated disobedience which ANM is facing on top of the scary one that led to the ousting of legislator Sulu Sou. Former association president and fellow accused Scott Chiang are still both waiting to have their day in court.

Apparently, the fresh cases came about from a breach of the bizarre electoral regulations on campaigning activities, which were in place for the 2017 Legislative Assembly election that gave Sulu Sou a short and lively period as a directly-elected lawmaker. While waiting to hear from the relevant authorities about the goings on of the investigation concerning ANM activists, Andrew Wong informed that one of the cases involves (Paul) Chan Wai Chi, former pro-democracy legislator as well as being a well-known teacher and veteran columnist. Chan’s case was heard at the Public Prosecutions office but he has not been charged yet.

Despite the auspicious outcome of the limited crowdfunding initiative ANM used to finance its regular activities (in accordance with the law) it is a short purse if it is to support a litigant’s daily life. Indeed, it does not seem that ANM could stand a bleeding… because it is conventional wisdom to presume that the average pro-democracy activist, sympathizer is not one of the rich and powerful in Macau – forgive us the lingo – few of whom could afford fines and legal bills.

Perhaps worse than the perception – of ANM – of an unstoppable machine slowly eroding the SAR, suffocating liberties granted by the Basic Law, stifling civil society, is the sentiment – to sugarcoat it – of excessive force towards an undeserving and law abiding population in contrast to Hong Kong’s symbolic fistfight to develop democracy across the Pearl River Delta. The New Macau leader Kam Sut Leng, we guess choking on her indignation, had to plead to the government to relax about Macau; Hong Kong (and Macau) has differences that should be enough to question the level of tightening exerted upon the population of Macau.

The Macau semiautonomous region under the reiterated principle of “One Country, Two Systems”- and here we have to digress to say that there was much ado about the disappearance of “its own people,” since it is a potential preparatory move to concede of China as an unitary state – is defined by a prime constitutional reading that constrains the scope of ANM to within the Special Administrative Region. Whether or not the zeitgeist up North is one of consolidating immense power in the hands of Xi Jiping via the retouching of the Constitution, New Macau Association works indoors according to the Basic Law. If there are unfulfilled expectations… they refer to MSAR. “Macau´s human rights are deteriorating… Executive power abuse remains frequent; striving for democracy, freedom and public interest is still difficult…but we continue to work to advance Macau´s political and social environmental”. Forgive the unintended pamphlet but the aim is to show the ANM is taboo in and of its makeup, and its framework is granted by a kind of Magna Carta, which shall be in place until forensic, yes, forensic, science can prove it ceased to exist.

Finally, one word on how China mystifies and plays even the wisest of observers who had forecast a Chinese dream of long-lasting revival through a prosperous economy, military might and political reform through openness, rule of law and constitutionalism. The first objective, we have to tick, the second one, check, third one, check, yes, but upside down. And one note to Ai Weiwei snobbery and fatalism bordering upon a dangerous political but sustaining anthropology, China has always been and will always be an emperor state.