Macau chief executive promises a government that listens more to the public

Macau's chief executive vowed to improve his governance by listening more to the public at the city's only election forum with the 400 members of the Election Committee yesterday.

Dr Fernando Chui Sai-on, who is seeking a second term unopposed, also said that in the future all crucial bills should go through a public consultation before being tabled to the city's legislature to ensure consensus.

In May, 20,000 people in the former Portuguese enclave took part in what was described as the largest demonstration since the 1999 handover to condemn a now-shelved bill that would have given lavish retirement packages to retired chief executives and senior officials.

Protesters condemned the government for not conducting a formal consultation before tabling the "self-tailored" bill to the Legislative Assembly.

Chui, 57, introduced his manifesto in a question-and-answer session yesterday to the only group of people out of the 624,000-strong city who can vote in the election. He needs to secure at least half of the committee's support on August 31 to win a second five-year term in office despite being unopposed.

Although he said he was determined to improve the administration's efficiency, he appeared indifferent towards democrats' demand to kick start the public consultation on political reform no later than next year. "You have heard of some opinions while I have also heard of some opinions, too. Everybody has a different view," said Chui, referring to the democrats' call as he addressed reporters' questions after the forum.