7 New NPC Deputies from Macao SAR to Be Elected

Seven deputies from the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) to the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC), in addition to the current five NPC deputies, are expected to be chosen at the end of this month.

An electoral conference, which is composed of 203 Macao residents with Chinese citizenship, held the first plenary meeting on Wednesday.Another four plenary meetings will be held in the month until the seven deputies are selected.

The entire process of choosing new NPC deputies from the Macao SAR will go on "fairly, justly and openly," He Chunlin, secretary-general of the NPC Standing Committee, said at the plenary meeting.

He noted that NPC deputies are members of the country's supreme power organ, and the deputies from the Macao SAR will take part in exercising national power in accordance with the country's Constitution and other laws.

However, the system of the people's congress will not be applied in the Macao SAR and the NPC deputies of the region will not intervene in concrete local affairs, He Chunlin stressed.

Out of the electoral conference members, the first plenary meeting chose nine persons to form a presidium, with Macao SAR Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah acting as its executive chairman.

The presidium is in charge of putting forward a draft specific method for choosing the new deputies and a draft regulation restraining the behavior of the members of the electoral conference.

The two drafts will be circulated among the members of the electoral conference for discussions on Thursday.

NPC deputies from Macao have been part of the delegation of Guangdong Province during annual NPC sessions.Beginning from this year, a total of 12 NPC deputies from the newly-founded Macao SAR will form an independent delegation to attend NPC sessions.


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