THE election of the seventh Legislative Assembly of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) wrapped up early yesterday morning with the preliminary results showing 14 candidates won the directly-elected seats, about half of whom were new faces, and 12 won the indirectly-elected seats.

Voting started from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday. Despite heat and sudden downpours, over 100,000 voters went to the ballot.

The SAR government said Sunday night that this year’s legislative election took place in a lawful, fair, open and clean manner.

Si Ka Lon, who won the most votes in direct election, told Xinhua that he would make his utmost effort to push the government to well implement the central authorities’ plan for building the Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin of neighboring Guangdong Province, taking advantage of the new space in Hengqin and speeding up industrial diversification.

Kou Hoi In, another winning candidate, said he would, as always, pay close attention to the business environment for the industrial and commercial circles, push the government for improving its governance efficiency and constructing “smart government administration” for the convenience of residents and businesses.

The Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR yesterday extended congratulations on the smooth legislative election and the new Legislative Assembly to be formed in the SAR.

The election in the SAR has fully implemented the fundamental principle of “patriots administering Macao,” said a spokesperson with the liaison office.

The candidates have shown their duties of loving the motherland and loving Macao, and actively made preparations and participated in the election, said the spokesperson.

All sectors of the Macao society and Macao residents cherished their democratic rights and actively cast their ballots, according to the spokesperson.

The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council yesterday also congratulated Macao on the smooth election of the seventh Legislative Assembly.

Under the relatively severe epidemic prevention and control situation, the Macao SAR Government has done careful organization and epidemic prevention work to ensure a safe and smooth election, said a spokesperson with the office.

(Xinhua)