Commission Against Corruption, Macao SAR

The CCAC and the Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) held the first working meeting on 26 ^th March to discuss the measures and promotion activities that will be taken and carried out to ensure a fair election. The Commission Against Corruption Fong Man Chong hoped that candidates and voters will "follow the dictates of conscience and behave themselves" during the election period, which he believed will help foster a healthy election culture and improve the qualities of citizens in Macao. He added that the CCAC will spare no effort to crack down on corrupt acts.

Following the meeting, the Commissioner Fong Man Chong, Deputy Commissioner Kuan Kun Hong and Chief of the Cabinet Sam Vai Keong, together with the CAEAL President Ip Son Sang and four commission members, met the reporters at a press conference. According to Fong, to ensure a fair, open and successful election, the CCAC and the CAEAL are striving to bring their roles into full play, adding that an effective communication mechanism has been established between them, and that they have already exchanged ideas with respect to problem handling techniques and procedures.

Fong stated that the CCAC had been preparing since the beginning of this year in anticipation of the daunting task, and staff members are all on standby for their work. The graft buster has already had an in-depth review on the past experiences and conditions, and will also conduct a comprehensive analysis of the information at hand and make necessary adjustments. The CCAC pledged to work closely with the CAEAL to ensure that all election campaigns are carried out lawfully.

Moreover, the 24-hour anti-electoral corruption hotline (6282 6282) of the CCAC is now in operation. The CCAC has assigned special groups and staff members to handle any complaints or reports that are related to the election, especially those in relation to electoral fraud. Besides, the CCAC will launch a web page for clean elections shortly. The web page will bring together all the election-related information, including the problems that have arisen during the process of previous elections, the issues that candidate groups should pay special attention to, the rules that electioneering teams should observe, the attitudes and manners that citizens and voters should have when participating the relevant activities and the ways for voters to handle their queries, etc.

At the meeting, Fong Man Chong stated that the continuous development of society, especially the popularization of communication applications, makes the crackdown of illegal election propaganda more difficult. Nevertheless, the CCAC will show zero tolerance for and take actions to crack down on any acts that contravene the election law. Fong thought it is important for voters to have the awareness for clean elections and understand how much their votes mean to the overall development of society.

President of CAEAL, Ip Son Sang, expressed that the CAEAL will strive to improve the election culture of Macao by raising the general public's awareness of clean and fair elections through various promotion and publicity continuously.