Legislative elections were held in Macau on 15 September 2013 according to the provisions of the Basic Law of Macau. This election was the first of its kind succeeding the reform of the Legislative Assembly that created four new seats; two new geographical constituency seats and two new functional constituency seats. Out of a total of 33 seats, 14 were elected by universal suffrage under the highest averages method, while 12 were voted on from the Functional constituency, and 7 from nomination by the Chief Executive.
Background
Formerly a Portuguese colony, Macau has been a Special Administrative Region within China since 1999. As a Special Administrative Region it is entitled to a high degree of autonomy from the mainland Chinese legal system through the year 2050, although China represents the city on foreign policy matters. Macau's economy is based primarily on its status as a tech and financial sector, as well as its internationally famous casino industry.
The previous legislative election took place in 2009. The pro-democracy camp ANMD+APMD, led by António Ng, received 19.35% of the votes cast, and the next largest party, the pro-establishment camp UPD, received 14.88% in vote with 2 seats while the pro-establishment ACUM received 12.00% with 2 seats. Due to the characteristics of the Macau election system, only 14 members are directly elected. On 1 July 2013 twenty-two parties have submitted their nominations for the direct election including current incumbents (Kwan Tsui Hang, Chan Meng Kam, António Ng, Paul Chan, Angela Leong, Ho Ion Sang, Au Kam San, José Pereira Coutinho, Mak Soi Kun, and Melinda Chan) and new candidates.
New structure of the Legislative Assembly
Previous Structure
Macau's government is headed by the Chief Executive, who controls government appointments and in many ways serves as the face of the city. Prior to 2012, the Chief Executive was elected by a 300-member Election Committee consisting of representatives from functional constituencies. 100 total came from the industrial, commercial and financial sectors, 18 from the culture sector, 20 from the education sector, 30 from the "specialty" sector, 12 from the sports sector, 40 from the labor sector, 34 from the social services sector, and 6 total from various religious groups. 16 were representatives of the Legislative Assembly of Macau and 24 were Macau representatives in the mainland Chinese government. While all members of the Election Committee are technically elected, in practice they are effectively appointed as each functional constituency usually nominates only one candidate.
Most power in the Macau government is concentrated in the Legislative Assembly. Macau's Legislative Assembly is unicameral (consisting of a single house). Prior to 2012 it had 29 members - 12 directly elected (in citywide elections), 10 indirectly elected (appointed through election by functional constituencies representing "employee", "business", "professional" and "charity/culture/education/sports" interests) and 7 appointed by the Chief Executive.
Democracy advocates in Macau had criticized the large number of indirectly elected members, charging that these tended to be pro-establishment and pro-Beijing businesspeople. As an alternative, they called for a larger number of directly elected legislators.
2012 reform package
As a result of the 2012 passage of "Amendment to Electoral Law for the Legislative Assembly of Macau" also known as the "+2+2+100" Law, the number of Legislative Council members is increased from 29 to 33. Two new geographical constituency seats, and two new indirectly elected Functional Constituency seats are created. Another key proposal was increasing the Election Committee for the chief executive election from 300 members to 400 on the next Chief Executive election in 2014. These changes were designed to create representation for a larger number of groups in the Election Committee and to reduce the power of the Chief Executive over the Legislative Assembly. However, democracy advocates criticized the law for not going far enough.
Geographical constituency
Under the constitutional reform package passed in 2012, this election saw AL increase its total size from 29 seats to 33 seats, half of which are geographical constituencies (GCs) and half functional constituencies (FCs). The GC seats are returned by universal suffrage in citywide elections, with gaining two extra seats.