The Legislative Assembly passed the final readings of two bills yesterday, one amending Macao’s Chief Executive Election Law and the other designed to protect state secrets, multiple local media outlets report.
Both are reflections of the local government’s intensified efforts to safeguard national security, which Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has identified as a major pillar for his administration.
The amended Chief Executive Election Law will take effect on 1 January, while the law on state secrets will take effect on 1 June, the Macau Post Daily reports.
[See more: The government intends to amend the law on oaths of office]
Under the new election law, candidates for the role of Chief Executive will be more thoroughly vetted for allegiance to the People’s Republic of China and will have to sign a declaration of allegiance to Beijing as well as Macao.
The next election is scheduled for 2024.
The state secrets law, meanwhile, defines eight different categories of state secrets – and expands the Chief Executive’s power to determine the duration of time such information would remain classified.
