Macau votes for new legislature in ‘most hotly contested polls’ in years

Pro-establishment bloc expected to maintain dominance, but will casino hub roll dice on small yet vocal pro-democracy camp?

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More than 300,000 voters go to the polls in Macau on Sunday. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 10:10pm, 16 Sep 2017Updated: 11:28pm, 16 Sep 2017

More than 300,000 Macau voters go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new legislature as the world’s top casino hub enters what is arguably the most crucial period in its recent history.

Elections for the city’s Legislative Assembly come at the end of a tumultuous 18 years since the former Portuguese enclave became China’s only other special administrative region. Macau has transformed from a down-at-heel casino backwater to a glitzy destination that has outstripped Las Vegas in gaming revenue.

The city is the world’s top casino hub by gaming revenue. Photo: Dickson Lee

Analysts say Sunday’s polls to elect a 33-member Legislative Assembly – 14 seats are directly elected, 12 indirectly elected and seven appointed – will be the most hotly contested in years, despite Macau having only a fraction of the rancour and division seen in nearby Hong Kong.

The pro-establishment bloc is expected to maintain its dominance in the assembly after a campaign in which the city’s small yet vocal pro-democracy camp found itself on the defensive after it tried to gain political capital by criticising the first ever use of troops from China’s People’s Liberation Army to help clean up the city following Typhoon Hato.

Macau braces itself for a political storm in wake of Typhoon Hato

But it is the future of the casino industry and the global gaming leader’s role in Beijing’s plans along with Hong Kong and Zhuhai in the so-called “Greater Bay Area” that are at stake in the election.

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