Ron Lam among 12 disqualified candidates for AL election

A total of 12 candidates from two electoral lists, including lawmaker Ron Lam, have been disqualified from running in the upcoming Legislative Assembly election, the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) announced this afternoon.

Seng Ioi Man, chairperson of the CAEAL, said the decision was based on a review opinion submitted by the Committee for Safeguarding National Security yesterday.

The opinion concluded that the individuals from the two lists failed to uphold the Basic Law and did not pledge allegiance to the Macao SAR.

“The principle of ‘patriots administering Macau’ has been further implemented in the legal system and the different stages of the electoral process have been enhanced to ensure that the Legislative Assembly election is fair, just, clean and orderly,” the CAEAL said.

“The amended Electoral Law for the Legislative Assembly stipulates that the Committee for Safeguarding National Security is responsible for determining whether a candidate upholds the Basic Law and bears allegiance to the Macao SAR of the People’s Republic of China and for issuing binding review opinions to the Electoral Affairs Commission for those who do not comply with the requirements,” it added.

The disqualified candidates include six from Synergy of Macao and six from the Macau People’s Livelihood Federation.