Macau holds low-profile election

Macau goes to the polls today for its fifth Legislative Assembly election - but you would be hard-pressed to find signs of any political campaigning amid the former Portuguese colony's ageing streets and glitzy casinos.

While Hong Kong's legislative and chief executive elections last year were characterised by fierce debates, wall-to-wall media coverage and omnipresent posters plastered around the city, the casual visitor to Macau might barely notice a poll was about to take place.

This is down in part to rules introduced by the city's Electoral Affairs Commission, which outlawed the use of commercial advertising by election candidates to promote themselves. This has left campaign vehicles with loudspeakers, which parade around the city, as the main face of the campaigns.

But there are deeper reasons for the stark contrast between politically charged Hong Kong and the relative apathy in the special administrative region on the other side of the Pearl River Delta. With Macau's casino-led economy booming and the government dishing out sweeteners every year, few residents see much reason to rock the boat.

The Sunday Morning Post struggled to find anyone on the streets planning to vote.

"I have no expectation either of the election or the lawmakers elected, they won't realise their election manifesto anyway," said one unemployed man in his 30s, who said he had never voted since becoming eligible at the age of 18.

While he supported universal suffrage in principle, he saw little point in voting for one of the 20 slates of candidates seeking to fill 14 directly elected seats. A further 12 lawmakers will be returned uncontested as the only candidates in functional constituencies. Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on has the power to appoint seven lawmakers.