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The signing ceremony of the Agreement between the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Commonwealth of Dominica on Mutual Abolition of Visa Requirements took place at the Yellow Hall of the Macao SAR Government Headquarters on 26 September 2005. Chief Executive Mr. Edmund Ho, Prime Minister Mr. Roosevelt Skerrit represented the Government of the Macao SAR and the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica respectively to sign the agreement. Holders of Macao SAR passport and travel permit of the People’s Republic of China will be able to enter the Commonwealth of Dominica without a visa for a stay not exceeding ninety days after the entry into force of the agreement. Until now, there are 66 countries/territories that agree to grant the visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to the holders of the Macao SAR passport, 7 countries that agree to grant the visa-free access to the holders of the Macao SAR Travel Permit.
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The Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Election Commission, Judge Fong Man Chong, said tonight he was satisfied that the process of the election was generally up to expectation. Speaking to reporters after polling had came to an end, he said the process in most of the polling stations were smooth, making it possible for voters to cast their votes within five minutes. Mr Fong said special arrangements were made at a station where a group of elderly voters, who had arrived at the same time, were unclear with the procedures, causing a longer queue. “Staff explained to them the process and they proceeded to cast their votes. The crowd was cleared later.” Mr Fong said candidate groups accusing each other, mostly of irregular promotions, made up most of the election complaints received. Staff had also taken down particulars of people who used mobile phones in the polling stations and prosecutions would be instituted if they were found to have breached the law. Mr Fong strongly denounced the cases of violence today, including the assault on a candidate and a journalist: he condemned such behaviour and said those who took part should be criminally liable. The police were investigating the cases, he said.
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128,830 registered voters had voted in today’s Legislative Assembly direct election, making a turnout rate of 58.39%. Meanwhile, a total of 2,704 organisation voters had voted in the indirect election, which came to a turnout rate of 61.95%. The polling for the 2005 Legislative Assembly Election had came to an end when the polling stations closed at 8:00 p.m., Among the seven perishes, Coloane has the highest turnout rate (63.45%), besides, turnout rates in the other perishes are :Our Lady of Fatima (60.52%); Taipa (59.40%); St Lawrence (57.17%); St Lazarus (56.71%); St. Anthony (56.70%); Cathedral (54.90%). For the indirect election, 2,224 organisation voters (65.12%) cast votes. Among the four constituencies, the highest turnout rates were recorded in that of the business (83.54%), followed by labour (75.13%), professional (70.42%) and Charity, Cultural, Educational and Sport (53.69%). There are 29 seats in the second Legislative Assembly of the Macao SAR, of which 12 are directly elected and 10 are indirectly elected. The Chief Executive will nominate the remaining seven within 15 days after being notified of the results of the election.
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(Macao – 26 September 2005) following are the provisional result of the 2005 Legislative Assembly election: Direct Election:
Group 3 New Democratic Macau Association 23,472 votes - 2seats;
Group 18 Macau United Citizens association 20,695 votes - 2seats;
Group 14 Development Union 16,588 votes - 2 seats;
Group 7 United Force 11,985 votes - 2 seats;
Group 9 Macau Development Alliance 11,642 - 1 seat;
Group 16 New Hope 9,973 votes - 1 seat;
Group 8 Love Macao General Union 8,517 votes - 1 seat;
Group 13 Macau Development Convergence 6,079 votes - 1 seat;
Group 10 Association for Democracy and Social Well-being of Macau 4,356 votes;
Group 5 Macau New Youth 3,060 votes;
Group 15 Close to the People Association 2,941 votes;
Group 11 Macau Vision Association 1,973 votes;
Group 12 Union of the General Federation of Gaming Sector Workers 922 votes;
Group 1 For Macau 892 votes;
Group 4 Democratic Activism Association 654 votes;
Group 6 Workers Union 457 votes;
Group 2 Man Tat Macau New Power 448 votes;
Group 17 Citizen Right Association 191 votes; Indirect Election:
Business: Macau Bussiness Interest Union 462 votes - 4 seats;
Labour:Employees Association Joint Candidature Commission 419 votes - 2 seats;
Professional: Macau professional Interest Union 247 votes - 2 seats;
Charity, Cultural, Educational and Sport: Excellent Culture and Sports Union Association 1,446 votes - 2 seats; Information Department
Government Information bureau
Macao SAR
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The completion of the third-term Legislative Assembly elections of the MSAR has again demonstrated the ongoing implementation of the principles of “One country, two systems”, “Macao people governing Macao”, and “A high degree of autonomy”. Macao’s citizens enthusiastically exercised their civic rights in accordance with the Basic Law of the Macao SAR and relevant electoral laws. Twenty-two Macao citizens were elected to the new Legislative Assembly. Other candidates, although unsuccessful in the election, had demonstrated great commitment. On behalf of the MSAR Government, I wish to extend my regards to all the candidates and to congratulate the ones who were elected. The electoral process effectively facilitated the development of civic education in our society. The large-scale canvassing activities during the election deepened the people’s understanding of the nature and the political manifestos of various groups of candidates and added to the election’s significance. The record numbers of candidate groups and voters, demonstrated stronger civic awareness. At the successful conclusion of the third-term Legislative Assembly elections, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the entire community, the Election Commission, all relevant departments and every member of the election staff. At the same time, I wish to assure you that the MSAR Government will continue, as always, to maintain close communication and good cooperation with the Legislative Assembly so that we may all jointly contribute to Macao’s continued development.
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The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, today called on all the registered voters to fulfill their right and responsibility by turning out and cast their votes today’s Legislative Assembler election. Ms Chan said she hoped voters would not be put off by the inclement weather and to actively take part the election. She also urged them to comply with the rules in force at the polling station. Ms Chan cast her vote in the Sacred Heart Cannosian College polling station about 10 am today. She then inspected the polling station after the staff briefed her on the progress of voting in the morning. She said the Legislative Assembly Election Commission would submit a report to the Government after the completion of polling and the Government would review the whole process and take into account public opinion. Earlier in the morning, Commissioner Against Corruption Mr Cheong U also cast his vote in the same polling station. He reporters that the people of Macao had become more conscious of their civic right and responsibility. Mr Cheong said promotion and public education would be a continuing exercise in public education.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, today urged registered voters to vote and elect legislators who can truly represent Macao. Mr Ho made the call after he had cast his vote at the polling station in the Instituto Salesiano this morning. He said he hoped all the registered voters would vote in today’s election, which is an important part of the political life of Macao, elect legislators who could truly represent Macao and contribute to the success of “One Country Two Systems”.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service showed that Composite CPI for August 2005 was 99.27, up by 0.45% compared with July 2005. Due to the increase in housing rent, rising prices in outbound package tours and air tickets during summer holidays, as well as in gasoline that was affected by price increase of petroleum in the international market; consequently, indices of Rent and housing expenses, Other goods and services, and Transport and communications rose by 2.04%, 1.26% and 0.97% respectively. On the other hand, continuous price reduction in summer clothing and footwear, and lower prices in fresh vegetables led to decrease in the indices of Clothing and footwear (-1.43%), and Foodstuff and beverages (-0.83%). Composite CPI for August 2005 recorded a significant year-on-year increase of 4.96%. For the 12 months ended August 2005, the average Composite CPI rose by 3.37% over the previous period. Average Composite CPI for January to August 2005 increased by 3.85% over the same period of 2004. In comparison with July 2005, CPI(A) and CPI(B) increased by 0.41% and 0.45% respectively. CPI(A) relates to 54% of households, which had an average monthly expenditure of MOP3,000 - MOP9,999. CPI(B) relates to 26% of households, which had an average monthly expenditure of MOP10,000 - MOP19,999.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that, in light of the summer holidays, number of visitor arrivals reached 1,732,083 in August 2005, another all-time record registered in a single month, up 7.1% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China increased 5.1%, 6.4% and 14.1% respectively. Meanwhile, same-day visitors accounted for 51.1% of the total arrivals, at 884,623. The majority of visitors came from Mainland China (54.3% of the total), Hong Kong (32.5%) and Taiwan, China (8.0%). Among the Mainland visitors, 520,133 (55.3%) travelled to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme. In the first eight months of 2005, visitor arrivals totalled 12,321,130, up 13.3% over the same period of last year. Visitors from Mainland China increased 10.0% to 6,843,974 (55.5% of the total), with 3,534,897 arriving in Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme. Moreover, visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, China shared 30.3% (3,736,529) and 8.3% (1,021,777) of the total respectively. Same-day visitors accounted for 52.2% of the total, at 6,428,418. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea went up 5.0% year-on-year to 4,416,976 in the first eight months of 2005, with 4,304,000 arriving at the Outer Harbour (+4.5%); the majority of these visitors were from Hong Kong (59.9%) and Mainland China (29.3%). Visitor arrivals at the Inner Harbour rose 31.8% to 112,976, within which 69.2% were from Mainland China. In the first eight months of 2005, arrivals by land increased 17.4% to 7,206,306, with 6,634,814 arriving through the Border Gate. The majority of these visitors came from Mainland China (76.9%) and Hong Kong (16.5%). Visitor arrivals through the Checkpoint of CoTai were 571,492. In addition, arrivals by air were 697,848, up 30.7% compared with the same period of last year, with 690,169 arriving at the Macao International Airport (+32.1%). Visitors from Taiwan, China (70.2%) and Mainland China (15.7%) were the major users of this access.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Wah, today stressed that the MSAR Government had done much against money laundering in accordance with international practice. He said legislation had been drafted to stop people using Macao for their illegal activities and the draft would be submitted to the Legislative Assembly later in the year, when the legislative year re-opened after the election on 25 September. The SAR Government attached much importance to the healthy operation of both the financial and the gaming sectors, he said. Mr Ho pointed out that the MSAR had always acted in line with the Central Government’s directive that Macao followed internationally accepted practice, especially in developing and monitoring the gaming industry after liberalising the industry. When asked about the effect of the US Government’s allegation’s on a bank, Mr Ho said that it would be expected that Macao’s image would be affected in some way. But he was confident that Macao would rise from the incident and enhance itself. “It is a part of the process in a new economic development. I’m certainly not too worried that there will be any prolonged negative impact,” Mr Ho said.
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