Sulu Sou calls for lawmakers to vote sensibly on his appeal

Lawmaker Sulu Sou has called upon the city’s lawmakers to vote sensibly on his appeal regarding the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) decision to reject and deny the publishing of his written protest. The lawmaker expressed his hope during yesterday’s press conference.  The vote has been scheduled for tomorrow.

Sou’s written protest concerns the “inappropriate remarks” of the president of the AL, Ho Iat Seng, who is also at present the only declared candidate in the upcoming Chief Executive election. Sou’s appeal emphasized that “no [extrajudicial] restrictions should be imposed on deputies’ right to file a written protest.”

The Executive Board of the AL, which is chaired by Ho Iat Seng, invoked “parliamentary practices” as one of the grounds for the rejection.

“Every student majoring in law in their first year – as well as legal advisers of the AL – are well aware that such parliamentary practices have no legal effect at all. These illegal practices, even though they have been repeated thousands, millions of times, are illegal after all, and should not be invoked to restrict fundamental rights,” declared Sou during the press conference.

Sou hopes that during the upcoming AL plenary meeting, all lawmakers will make a sensible decision based on the correct understanding of the Rules of Procedures and on relevant legal principles, to reject the illegal interpretation or instruction given by the AL organs, and to align with him in the defense of the fundamental rights of deputies.

The Macau AL is dominated by pro-establishment lawmakers, who tend to side with the Assembly’s president, meaning appeals such as Sou’s are likely to fail.

Despite knowing that his appeal will be rejected in the AL plenary meeting, Sou expressed his preference to fight rather than to accept defeat.

“I can’t accept being beaten- up. It’s a principle of being a human being. When we know that we are justified but we choose not to talk – is that responsible?” posed Sou.

Tomorrow’s vote will be the last chance for Sou’s appeal, which will be voted on immediately after the lawmakers’ inquiries.

In addition to his above statement, Sou commented that the appeal, which has been ongoing for approximately 11 months, shows “how old [conservative] Macau’s AL is, and how old the mindset of people in the AL is.”

“They [the AL] have no idea of how to handle things which they have not seen,” said Sou.