The Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) said in a statement that by 6 p.m. Thursday 23 forms for the setting-up of a legislative election candidacy commission were downloaded from the Internet or picked up by residents from the bureau.
Forms were made available Thursday and any resident or group interested in joining the September legislative elections can download copies from the bureau’s website or collecting them from the bureau.
According to electoral regulations cited by The Macau Post Daily, for the direct legislative election only duly registered political associations or ad hoc candidacy commissions have the right to propose a list of candidates for the upcoming ballot. Each commission must be composed of at least 300 but not more than 500 eligible voters.
According to the election law, the indirectly-elected lawmakers will be chosen by voters who place their ballots on behalf of their association which has been registered with the bureau as a legal entity, giving them the right to vote.
Regarding the indirect election, only candidacy commissions composed of at least 20 percent of the registered voters who represent the city’s associations in different sectors such as industry, commerce, finance, labour, professionals, social services and culture, have the right to propose a list of candidates.
According to the government’s previous announcement, the polls for the legislature’s 14 directly-elected and 12-indirectly elected members will be held on 15 September, with the maximum amount that each campaign group can legally spend amounting to 5,644,278.46 patacas. The amount stood at8,942,959.84 patacas in 2009.
According to the bureau, the deadline that the candidacy commission forms must be handed in is June 28, while each eligible electoral group must hand in its candidate list and campaign platform no later than July 8, while the campaign activities are slated to officially start on August 31.
Any permanent resident – irrespective of nationality and place of birth – aged at least 18 and registered as a voter has the right to vote while candidates must at least be 21 years old. (macaunews)
