2021 Macanese legislative election explained

Country:Macau
Previous Election:2017
Next Election:2025
Seats For Election:14 of the 33 seats in the Legislative Assembly
Election Date:12 September 2021
Heading1:Pro-Beijing parties
Party1:Macau United Citizens Association
Percentage1:20.14
Seats1:3
Last Election1:1
Party2:Union for Development
Percentage2:17.99
Seats2:2
Last Election2:2
Party3:Macau-Guangdong Union
Percentage3:12.73
Seats3:2
Last Election3:2
Party4:Union for Promoting Progress
Percentage4:11.43
Seats4:2
Last Election4:1
Party5:Women's General Association of Macau
Percentage5:10.78
Seats5:2
Last Election5:1
Heading6:Pro-democracy parties
Party6:New Hope (Macau)
Percentage6:13.80
Seats6:2
Last Election6:1
Heading7:Unaffiliated parties
Party7:Synergy of Macao
Percentage7:6.64
Seats7:1
Last Election7:0
President
Before Election:Ko Hoi In
Before Party:OMKC
After Election:Ko Hoi In
After Party:OMKC
Turnout:42.38% (14.84 pp)

Legislative elections were held in Macau on 12 September 2021. This legislative election will return 33 members of the Legislative Assembly of Macau, with 14 directly elected by all electorates, 12 indirectly elected by special interest groups and 7 appointed by the Chief Executive 15 days after the announcement of the election results.

The voter turnout rate for the 2021 Legislative Assembly direct election stood at 42 per cent after polls closed, the lowest rate reported since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region in 1999.[1]

Mass disqualification

The Electoral Affairs Commission for this legislative election unprecedentedly disqualified some 21 candidates who intended to contest in the direct elections. As a result of those 21 hopefuls having been barred from running, five candidate lists consequently became unqualified due to the electoral requirement of a minimum of 4 contenders in each list.[2] [3]

All pro-democracy candidates, except José Pereira Coutinho's candidate list,[4] were barred from running in the election. The mass disqualification created shock as Macau has been seen as "obedient" to the Chinese government, while disqualifying election candidates, which had happened in Hong Kong before, was believed to be unlikely in Macau.[5]

Results

The turnout of the election was only 42.38%, marking the lowest since the 1988 election. The mass disqualification was said to be the reason of residents not voting, but officials claimed the weather and pandemic as main factors instead.[6] The number of invalid and blank ballots broke record, with some writing "trashed election", "democracy", name of disqualified candidate Antonio Ng, or foul languages.[7]

Pro-democracy camp won 2 seats only out of 33, whilst the remaining were under the control of pro-government and pro-Beijing parties and politicians as expected.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021-09-12. 2021 Legislative Assembly election with lowest voter turnout in SAR history. 2021-09-12. Macau Business. en-GB.
  2. News: Macau poll candidate numbers slashed by 31 to 128. The Standard. 14 July 2021. 17 July 2021.
  3. News: In first for Macau, election chiefs disqualify 21 opposition members from running in September legislative elections. South China Morning Post. 10 July 2021. 17 July 2021.
  4. Web site: 2021-08-18. 為何無份被DQ? 高天賜︰要問返選管會. 2021-08-23. 論盡媒體 AllAboutMacau Media.
  5. Web site: 2021-07-14. 澳門立法會候選人遭集體DQ 「愛國愛澳」面臨重新定義. 2021-08-23. BBC News 中文. zh-hant.
  6. Web site: 澳門選舉沒有民主派,支持者們的零選擇投票日. 2021-09-13. The Initium. 12 September 2021 . Macanese election without democrats; a no-choice polling day for the supporters.
  7. Web site: 澳門立會選舉廢票 2082 張 有選民寫「垃圾選舉」「謝主隆恩」 港澳辦:選舉延續愛國愛澳光榮傳統. 2021-09-13. Stand News. 2021-12-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20211225152849/https://www.thestandnews.com/%E6%BE%B3%E9%96%80/ab%E6%BE%B3%E9%96%80%E7%AB%8B%E6%9C%83%E9%81%B8%E8%88%89%E5%BB%A2%E7%A5%A8-2082-%E5%BC%B5-%E6%9C%89%E9%81%B8%E6%B0%91%E5%AF%AB%E5%9E%83%E5%9C%BE%E9%81%B8%E8%88%89%E8%AC%9D%E4%B8%BB%E9%9A%86%E6%81%A9-%E6%B8%AF%E6%BE%B3%E8%BE%A6%E9%81%B8%E8%88%89%E5%BB%B6%E7%BA%8C%E6%84%9B%E5%9C%8B%E6%84%9B%E6%BE%B3%E5%85%89%E6%A6%AE%E5%82%B3%E7%B5%B1. dead.