For the first time in 29 years, the Legislative Assembly does not have the pro-democratic camp in its ranks. A year after their exclusion, António Ng and Scott Chiang say the big change is the lack of monitoring and public discussion. Eilo Yu, a political analyst, explains that although this opposition was never able to antagonize the Government, it brought the population closer to the decisions A year ago, 23 candidates from 7 lists were removed from the elections for the Macau Legislative Assembly by the Electoral Affairs Commission. The arguments for the decision were the disrespect for the Basic Law of Macau and lack of loyalty to the Macau Special Administrative Region. Among them, António Ng, a veteran of the pro-democratic camp, and Scott Chiang.
A year later, the city faces the consequences of the worst epidemic outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic, high unemployment and changes to the Law of the Game.
Macau’s image is marked by nucleic acid testing stations and streets full of rented shops. However, the number of criticisms by the Legislative Assembly of the government was clearly lower than last year, says Eilo Yu, associate professor at the Department of Government and Public Administration at the University of Macau. As an example, he highlights the amendment to the Gaming Law as a rare public expression of the opinions of the members of the Assembly. “It seems that few members of the Legislative Assembly are able to reflect on the development and expectations for the gaming industry from a public perspective.”
Faced with epidemic restrictions, “the Assembly not only accepts all the Government’s proposals, but does not even discuss the content in detail”, points out the political scientist, alluding to the rapid approval of the use of the fiscal reserve without a specific plan for the allocation of funds. “The new Assembly seems to place more emphasis on cooperation with the executive authorities, but its political power has been weakened”, he emphasizes.
Legislative ecosystem: the usefulness of the useless
Before 1992, when António Ng still did not occupy one of the seats in the Assembly, the deputies seized few opportunities to intervene. His presence broke that silence and created a precedent for questions put directly to the government by deputies. Asked about the changes over the last year, he says that “the main change is in the absence of public discussion and monitoring of the Government by the deputies”. A year ago, Scott Chiang was going to replace António Ng in the front row. Today, he confesses to PLATAFORMA that nothing has changed with the absence of the pro-democrats, arguing that their exclusion did not make the government’s job any easier. He cites the Hong Kong group “Mirror” as an example, stating that even eliminating opposition and limiting the space for discussion, there is still tension in community matters, which will continue to demand clarification. “When it comes to something we care about, we will always look for answers and the truth,” he says.
Eilo Yu points out that the pro-democratic presence in the Assembly had no impact on government policies, but at least it reduced the distance between the government and the population. “While pro-Democrat deputies have not been able to change the Government’s position, their continued presence in the Assembly has made them in a better position to put pressure on it.
They reflected the opinion of more members of the population and demanded that the Government explain its proposals in detail”, he stresses. However, “it is important to see that in the past the pro-democratic camp was not able to change these policy measures. One of the biggest examples of this inability happened in 2014 with the movement against the new subsidy law, mobilized by the population”, he points out.
Center is the new end of the assembly
Scott Chiang says that in the past there were several members of the Assembly who both questioned and supported the Government. “In a dialogue between several members of society (Legislative Assembly), for a year without the participation of Democrats, those in the center automatically occupied this political vacancy”.
“The center, once supported by both sides, now appears to be the extreme end of the Assembly.” Scott Chiang warns that if these centrist MPs start to detach themselves too much from political harmony, they could face more pressures and challenges than ever before.
Eilo Yu explains that the disqualification incident made no difference to the Government’s attitude. However, the political scientist says, however, that the June outbreak caused the community to criticize the deputies for not defending the needs of the population. The deputies from the center made speeches in order to support public opinion, but they did not result in concrete changes in the measures adopted by the Government. “The epidemic outbreak could burst the bubble in the center”, he reflects.
Will there be a way out for Democrats off the political stage?
Sam, born in the 1980s, admits he never developed much empathy for Democrats, but he doesn’t believe his exclusion was right. With the disqualification and the Covid-19 pandemic, he felt discouraged by the Government’s attitude. “I feel like my vote was wasted. I could never find someone who represented me, but now even less so, I don’t even pay attention to the local news anymore”, he confesses.
After the elections, Scott Chiang returned home, devoting most of his time to his two daughters. According to the current context, he believes that it will be difficult to promote any type of proposal or social issue, regardless of the elected deputy. For this reason, he considers that voters cannot choose who represents them in the Legislative Assembly. However, this does not completely erase the ideological footprint: “Even without this representation in the Assembly, the population guarantees the defense of their interests in various aspects of daily life. The condominium owners in Macau are still a small representation of this democracy”.
Eilo Yu says that in the event that the population shows discontent with the government’s actions, the pro-democratic movement can still exert pressure on the authorities through civic participation.
Will there be a way out for Democrats off the political stage?
Sam, born in the 1980s, admits he never developed much empathy for Democrats, but he doesn’t believe his exclusion was right. With the disqualification and the Covid-19 pandemic, he felt discouraged by the Government’s attitude. “I feel like my vote was wasted. I could never find someone who represented me, but now even less so, I don’t even pay attention to the local news anymore”, he confesses.
After the elections, Scott Chiang returned home, devoting most of his time to his two daughters. According to the current context, he believes that it will be difficult to promote any type of proposal or social issue, regardless of the elected deputy. For this reason, he considers that voters cannot choose who represents them in the Legislative Assembly. However, this does not completely erase the ideological footprint: “Even without this representation in the Assembly, the population guarantees the defense of their interests in various aspects of daily life. The condominium owners in Macau are still a small representation of this democracy”.
Eilo Yu says that in the event that the population shows discontent with the government’s actions, the pro-democratic movement can still exert pressure on the authorities through civic participation.
