The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, announced at a press conference today that after extensive discussion by the Executive Council, the Government has decided to withdraw the “Welfare Package for Designated, Incumbent and Former Chief Executives and Principal Officials” bill.
In the meantime, the Government will compile the opinions received from all sectors of society and come up with a consultation document for public engagement to seek the broadest possible social consensus and join hands with all citizens as participants to perfect the system together.
Mr Chui said that he wrote formally to the Legislative Assembly to suggest the withdrawal of the bill, and re-iterated that the purpose of the bill was to enhance the institutionalisation of the political system of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
The Chief Executive and principal officials are paramount components of the SAR government. However, with the Government now having been in place for 15 years, a relevant and much-needed welfare package still does not exist.
With regard to the content of the welfare package, it is required to meet the demands of the public and to satisfy the requirements to develop the system. It is believed there is still much room for further study and discussion on this matter.
The “Welfare Package for Designated, Incumbent and Former Chief Executives and Principal Officials” bill has attracted overwhelming and wide-ranging opinions from society.
Mr Chui said that the Government has noted that there is a huge variation in views on the bill, including the two recent lawful and rational expressions of concern from members of the public calling for withdrawal of the bill, while at the same time; there were also opinions in support of the bill that must receive attention.
Mr Chui said he did not want the disparity in Macao public opinion to become more extreme, which could affect social harmony. The Government hopes to listen to the voices of the public and unite people’s power through open consultation, enabling all members of the community to participate in establishing the system.
He pointed out that the Secretary for Administration and Justice Ms Florinda Chan and her colleagues will immediately compile the opinions on the bill collected from different sectors and produce a consultation paper to provide sufficient channels for the expression of opinion by people from all walks of life. The Government will maintain an open-minded attitude in its system development work.
In regard to the part related to immunity from criminal charges, Mr Chui said he believes that the Chief Executive, as the highest person-in-charge and head of a region, should take the responsibility from the Central Government. It is worth considering whether there should be a system to protect him legally during his exercise of his duties, similar to the provisions under the Basic Law and relevant systems that protects Legislative Assembly members.
Secretary for Administration and Justice has already communicated in great depth with the Central Government and hence today’s move does not circumvent the decision of the Central Government. Mr Chui re-iterated that the relevant welfare package does not imply that the Chief Executive will be free from liability for any criminal offence during his term of office. With an open-mind towards this issue, Mr Chui welcomes everyone to discuss this in the upcoming public consultation.
Mr Chui also told the media that when the Government submits the amended bill to the Legislative Assembly, he has decided that if the welfare package is established, he will donate to a good cause the total amount granted to him under the package. For this reason, he has contacted six charitable and educational organisations. He re-iterated that as the engineer of the welfare package for principal officers, he personally will not accept any benefits accorded to him by the system.
In addition, Mr Chui noted that the huge variation in social opinion regarding the bill is a sign that the Government needs to identify and review its weaker areas when carrying out policies. He believes that a responsible government should face problems and review inadequacies with a humble heart, so as to serve the public under the principle of “putting people first”.
At the same time, he hopes that the admirable traditions of Macao can be inherited to help realise a harmonious society in which everyone jointly participates in building a better Macao.
He pointed out that after serious discussion and review, the Executive Council believes that the Government has not done sufficiently well and needs to improve in the following respects: adopt a multiple-level approach to explain government policies and legal proposals; listen to opinions and conduct consultation more frequently; establish better opinion-collecting channels suited to the current situation. It is hoped that after listening more to opinions and conducting all-round consultation, a broader social consensus can finally be reached and the difference in standpoints can be narrowed.
Mr Chui promised that the Government will review the communication channel with the public, provide more support, advance with the times, and listen to the people through various channels of contact and communication.
