ALTHOUGH MACAU'S first post-handover election will not be held until late summer, incumbent legislators, potential candidates and would-be appointees are already jostling for the 27 seats at stake.
The polls, due in late August or early September, will see the number of lawmakers increase to 27 from 23. The ranks of directly and indirectly elected legislators will be increased to 10 each from eight, but the number of deputies appointed by the Chief Executive will remain unchanged at seven.
Unlike in Hong Kong, there are no geographical or functional constituencies and there are still no political parties. The direct elections by universal suffrage are run according to the system of proportional representation, which favours small groups.
Civic associations that lie dormant between elections or are formed ad hoc just weeks before the hustings are Macau's closest equivalent to political parties. Twelve associations, officially known as 'lists', took part in the last, pre-handover polls in 1996. Half of them won seats. The election drew 75,093 voters, corresponding to a turnout of 64 per cent.
The indirect elections, widely seen as political horse-trading rather than genuine balloting, are carried out by representatives of business, labour, professional and community associations. In 1996, the indirect elections comprised just 1,148 voters, representing 233 associations.
Critics maintain the composition of the current legislature is not representative of the diverse social mix of Macau's 437,000 residents. About half the deputies are businessmen, four are lawyers and just three are trade unionists. Although women make up 52 per cent of the population, their share in the legislature is just 22 per cent, including its strong-willed president, Susana Chou.
Mao Zedong's dictum that women hold up half the sky rings hollow in the Legislative Assembly.