Seventh legislative election wraps up in Macao SAR

MACAO -- The election of the seventh Legislative Assembly of the Macao Special Administrative Region wrapped up early Monday morning with the preliminary results showing 14 candidates won the directly-elected seats, about half of whom were new faces, and 12 won the indirectly-elected seats.

Voting started from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm local time on Sunday. Despite heat and sudden downpours, over 100,000 voters went to the ballot.

The SAR government said Sunday night that this year's legislative election took place in a lawful, fair, open and clean manner.

Si Ka Lon, who won the most votes in direct election, told Xinhua that he would make his utmost effort to push the government to well implement the central authorities' plan for building the Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin of neighboring Guangdong province, taking advantage of the new space in Hengqin and speeding up industrial diversification.

Kou Hoi In, another winning candidate, said he would, as always, pay close attention to the business environment for the industrial and commercial circles, push the government for improving its governance efficiency and constructing "smart government administration" for the convenience of residents and businesses.

In face of the severe COVID-19 situation in Macao and neighboring regions, the SAR government adopted strict preventative measures for this election. Over 3,000 civil servants assisted with the voting on Sunday to ensure electoral arrangements and other related logistics.

An editorial run by the Macao Daily News on Monday pointed out the political significance of this election as the first being held after the principle of "patriots administering Macao" was fully executed.

Those patriots administering Macao should have new standards and requirements to take part in safeguarding the successful practice of "one country, two systems" at a higher stance, with bigger plans and deeper feelings, noted the editorial.

In line with the Basic Law, the new legislature is composed of 33 seats including 14 directly-elected seats, 12 indirectly-elected seats, and seven others which will be appointed by the SAR chief executive.

The term of office of the seventh Legislative Assembly is four years, which will start in October 2021.