The mood was jubilant this morning at the headquarters of the New Macau Association, as the city’s youngest lawmaker was confirmed.
According to the official election results, 26-year-old Sulu Sou has become the city’s 12th legislator, backed by 9,212 votes.
“The [Legislative] Assembly is not the end, but the means,” was his message as he emerged in the early hours of the morning to cheering and applause from an audience made up of youths and political veterans alike.
It had been an emotional evening at the New Macau headquarters, as democrat powerhouses Jason Chao and Scott Chiang returned to see one of their rank elected for the first time.
Chao and Chiang ran for the Legislative Assembly on a similar platform back in 2013, but to no avail. Sou succeeded where they had failed but under different circumstances and not without the support of Chao, Chiang and the New Macau team.
“I owe this victory to Macau citizens and the strong team of New Macau Association,” he told the press this morning, adding, “this success does not belong to us only, but all of the citizens who want to revitalize the Legislative Assembly.”
The democrats – including veteran lawmakers Au Kam San and Ng Kuok Cheong – stand for a variety of issues, but their demand for political reform and universal suffrage is a unifying call among them.
Now on the road to the Legislative Assembly, the modest Sou has political reform in his sights starting with a plan to see 100 percent of the 33 legislative seats filled via direct elections. Currently, just 14 of the 33 seats are elected by universal suffrage and the government has recurrently shot down proposals to grow that number.
The new lawmaker also wants to see the political involvement of young people develop over the next four years; a force that he warned the chief executive not to ignore.
“New Macau wants to show the power of young people,” said Sou, who currently heads a leadership team populated mostly by 20- and 30-somethings. “Young people should be confident in themselves and [their ability] to change society and improve the Legislative Assembly. I hope that Mr Chui [Sai On] won’t underestimate the power of young people.”
The pro-democrat camp reached the pinnacle of its strength after the 2009 election when the New Macau Association secured three of the then-12 directly elected seats with 19.35 percent of the vote. Together with the seat won by Pereira Coutinho’s New Hope, the pro-democrat camp constituted one-third of the legislature.
In the subsequent election – when, for the first time, the 12 directly elected seats increased to 14 – the two associations collectively retained their four seats but saw their position weakened by the addition of two pan-establishment lawmakers.
Then New Macau felt its influence slipping last year, when New Macau co-founder Au Kam San left the group, claiming that it no longer resembled the organization he had helped to found. After months of uncertainty, Ng Kuok Cheong, another veteran pro-democrat, finally pledged to stay on.
Sou might be the key to healing the rift between the younger activists and the Old Guard. With Paul Chan as his number 2, the more moderate and reserved Sou emanated yesterday a middle ground between the Jason Chaos and the Au Kam Sans.
“I think that a gain in the pro-democrat camp is not a zero-sum game,” said Sou yesterday on the matter. “New Macau won [a seat] and so did Au Kam San and Ng Kuok Cheong. So we will be open to [cooperation with other] pro-democrats.”
