The Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) announced yesterday that 128 candidates fielded by 14 direct-election lists have been accepted, a 19.5 percent reduction from the provisionally accepted 159 candidates from 19 lists.

Now there are 9.1 candidates per directly-elected seat in the legislature’s hemicycle.

The reduction in the number of direct-election candidates came after the commission rejected the acceptance of three lists all of whose candidates have been disqualified for failing to support the Macau Basic Law or having been disloyal to the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), and also rejected the acceptance of two lists which did not have enough candidates – the minimum-requirement of four – after some of their candidates were disqualified for failing to uphold the Macau Basic Law or having been disloyal to the MSAR.

Each direct-election list must have at least four and no more than 14 candidates.

On Wednesday last week, the commission had announced the preliminary acceptance of 159 candidates from 19 lists vying for the legislature’s 14 directly-elected seats.

On Friday, the commission announced that it had decided to disqualify 21 candidates from six direct-election lists for failing to support the Macau Basic Law or having been disloyal to the MSAR. The commission said on Friday that even though all 159 candidates fielded by 19 direct-election candidacy lists had formally declared their support for the Macau Basic Law and their loyalty to the MSAR when they submitted their candidacies over the past few weeks, the commission’s candidacy qualification review process, based on evidence provided by the Secretariat for Security, discovered that the 21 candidates had failed to respect the Macau Basic Law or had been disloyal to the MSAR, because of which the 21 residents are ineligible to stand in the September 12 direct election.

According to Article 6 of the Legislative Assembly Election Law, those who refuse to declare that they uphold the Macau Basic Law and bear allegiance to the MSAR are ineligible to be a candidate for the direct or indirect legislative elections. According to the same article, residents are also ineligible to run in the elections if “facts have proved” that they do not uphold the Macau Basic Law or are disloyal to the MSAR.

Legislative election candidates must sign a declaration confirming that they uphold the Macau Basic Law and bear allegiance to the MSAR.

The commission also announced on Friday last week that two other candidates from another list were disqualified for not being registered voters. According to the legislative election law, candidates must be listed in the electoral roll.

The 21 disqualified candidates include all 15 candidates of three lists from the so-called “pro-democracy” or “non-establishment” camp, which were headed by high-profile political activist Chiang Meng Hin, incumbent legislator Sulu Sou Ka Kou and former lawmaker Paul Chan Wai Chi respectively. The other six disqualified candidates comprise two candidates from the Gaming New Macau list headed by gaming staff unionist Cloee Chao Sao Fong, two candidates from the Ou Mun Kong I (“Macau Righteousness”) list headed by veteran labour rights activist Lee Sio Kuan, and two candidates from the Macau Victory list.

Some of the disqualified candidates from the three “pro-democracy” lists, as well as the two disqualified candidates from the Gaming New Macau list and the two disqualified candidates from the Ou Mun Kong I list went to the commission’s office at the Public Administration Building in Rua do Campo on Monday (the deadline for the lists to replace disqualified candidates), where they told the commission that they insisted that they had not failed to support the Macau Basic Law and had not been disloyal to the MSAR and consequently would not replace their candidates.

Representatives of the Macau Victory list also went to the commission’s office on Monday, but they declined to confirm to the media the list’s position on the matter.

The commission announced its updated list of accepted candidates yesterday. The list was posted on a board installed on the ground floor of the Public Administration Building yesterday evening.

According to yesterday’s list, the commission has decided to adhere to its decision of disqualifying all 15 candidates from the three “pro-democracy” lists, namely 1) the Democratic Prosperous Macau Association, of which Chiang and incumbent lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong were the number-one and number-two candidates; 2) the New Macau Progressives headed by Sou, and 3) the New Macau Progressive Association headed by Paul Chan. Consequently, the commission rejected the three lists in their entirety.

According to yesterday’s list, the commission has decided to stick to its decision of disqualifying the number-one and number-two candidates of the Gaming New Macau list – Cloee Chao and Lei Man Chao. As the list had less than four candidates after Chao and Lei had been disqualified, the commission has rejected the whole list.

The Gaming New Macau list had fielded eight candidates. Cloee Chao told the media last night that her list had less than four candidates after she and Lei were disqualified because some candidates had quit the list due to “pressure by someone”. She did not elaborate on her claim. The list would still have had six candidates if no one had left it.

The commission said in a statement yesterday evening that it had initially disqualified 21 candidates for failing to support the Macau Basic Law or having been disloyal to the MSAR, but the number of disqualified candidates has now been reduced to 20 because one of the six electoral lists affected by the individual disqualifications had requested to be allowed to replace a disqualified candidate. The statement did not reveal the name of the list.

According to yesterday’s list posted at the Public Administration Building, the commission disqualified the number-one candidate of the Macau Victory list, Lo Chun Seng. As the list had less than four candidates after Lo was disqualified, the commission rejected the whole list. The Macau Victory list comprised four candidates before Lo had been disqualified.

According to yesterday’s list, the commission has decided to keep its decision of disqualifying the first-ranked and second-ranked candidates of the Ou Mun Kong I list – Lee and Kuong Kai Nang. As the list now has four candidates after Lee and Kuong were disqualified, the commission has accepted the list.

The Macau Basic Law Promotion Alliance direct-election list, which had initially fielded six candidates, has confirmed to the media that two of its candidates were disqualified for not being registered voters.

According to yesterday’s list published by the commission, the Macau Basic Law Promotion Alliance list has only replaced one of the two disqualified candidates with a new one, because of which the list now has five candidates.

According to yesterday’s list from the commission, the Macau-Guangdong Union list, which is headed by incumbent lawmaker Zheng Anting, now has one fewer candidate than when the commission announced the preliminary acceptance of the then 159 candidates on Wednesday last week, because of which the list now has 11 candidates.

All disqualified candidates have the right to lodge their objection to the commission’s decision by next Monday. If – as expected – the commission rejects the objections, the disqualified candidates can still appeal to the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) until July 27 at the latest. Macau’s top court ruling on the appeals must be announced no later than August 2.

Many of the disqualified candidates told the local media over the weekend that they intended to appeal the commission’s decision.

Meanwhile, the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) said in a statement last night that the MSAR government resolutely supports the commission’s decision to disqualify the 20 direct-election candidates for failing to support the Macau Basic Law or having been disloyal to the MSAR.

The GCS statement reaffirmed that upholding the Macau Basic Law and bearing allegiance to the MSAR are the most fundamental standards that local lawmakers must meet.

The statement underlined that some candidates being disqualified will not affect the basic rights enjoyed by Macau residents in line with the law, nor will it affect their freedom of speech and their “right to know” and monitor the government’s administration.

Four years ago there were 186 candidates fielded by 24 lists who finally ran in the direct election. One list with five candidates had withdrawn before polling day.

Media workers take photos of two Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) staff members posting the commission’s updated list of accepted candidates for the upcoming direct and indirect legislative elections on a board on the ground floor of the Public Administration Building in Rua do Campo yesterday evening. Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng