Macau Government

Who is the president of Macau?

Executive Branch:

chief of state: President of China XI Jinping (since 14 March 2013)

head of government: Chief Executive HO Iat Seng (since 20 December 2019)

cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the chief executive

elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by National People's Congress for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 17 March 2018 (next to be held in March 2023);chief executive chosen by a 400-member Election Committee for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 24 August 2019 (next to be held in 2024)

election results: Fernando CHUI Sai On reelected chief executive; Election Committee vote - 380 of 396; note - HO Iat Seng was elected chief executive (receiving 392 out of 400 votes) on 24 August 2019 and will take office on 20 December 2019

Citizenship Criteria:

see China

Legal System:

civil law system based on the Portuguese model

Suffrage:

18 years of age in direct elections for some legislative positions, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; note - indirect elections are limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" (973 were registered in the 2009 legislative elections) and a 400-member Election Committee for the Chief Executive drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, central government bodies, and elected Macau officials

Legislative Branch:

description: unicameral Legislative Assembly or Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (33 seats; 14 members directly elected by proportional representation vote, 12 indirectly elected by an electoral college of professional and commercial interest groups, and 7 appointed by the chief executive; members serve 4-year terms)

elections: last held on 17 September 2017 (next to be held in 2021)

election results: percent of vote - UMG 10%, UPD 9.7%, ACUM 8.6%, NE 8.3%, UPP 7.2, ANMD 6.6%, NUDM 6.1%, ACDM 5.9%, APMD 5.8%, Civic Watch 5.6%, ABL 5.5%, ANPM 5.3%, other 15.4%; seats by political group - UMG 2, UPD 2, ABL 1, ACDM 1, ACUM 1, ANMD 1, ANPM 1, APMD 1, Civic Watch 1, NE 1, NUDM 1, UPP 1; 12 seats filled by professional and business groups; 7 members appointed by the chief executive; composition - men 27, women 6, percent of women 18.6%

Judicial Branch:

highest court(s): Court of Final Appeal of Macau Special Administrative Region (consists of the court president and 2 associate justices)

judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the Macau chief executive upon the recommendation of an independent commission of judges, lawyers, and "eminent" persons; judge tenure NA

subordinate courts: Court of Second Instance; Court of First instance; Lower Court; Administrative Court

Regions or States:

none (special administrative region of the People's Republic of China)

Political Parties and Leaders:

Alliance for Change or APM [Melinda CHAN Mei-yi]

Macau-Guangdong Union or UMG [MAK Soi-kun]

New Democratic Macau Association or ANMD (an electoral list of the New Macau Association)

New Hope or NE [Jose Maria Pereira COUTINHO]

New Macau Association or ANM [Sulu SOU Ka-hou]

New Union for Macau's Development or NUDM [Angela LEONG On-kei]

Prosperous Democratic Macau Association or APMD (an electoral list of the New Macau Association)

Union for Development or UPD [KWAN Tsui-hang]

Union for Promoting Progress or UPP [HO Ion-sang]

United Citizens Association of Macau or ACUM [CHAN Meng-kam]

note: there is no political party ordinance, so there are no registered political parties; politically active groups register as societies or companies

International Organization Participation:

ICC (national committees), IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), ISO (correspondent), UNESCO (associate), UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic Representation in the US:

none (Special Administrative Region of China)

Diplomatic Representation from US:

the US has no offices in Macau; US Consulate General in Hong Kong is accredited to Macau