Short facts about the government of Macau

Country name:

conventional long form:  Macau Special Administrative Region conventional short form:  Macau local long form:  Aomen Tebie Xingzhengqu (Chinese); Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (Portuguese) local short form:  Aomen (Chinese); Macau (Portuguese)

Dependency status:

special administrative region of China

Government type:

NA

Administrative divisions:

none (special administrative region of China)

Independence:

none (special administrative region of China)

National holiday:

National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 20 December 1999 is celebrated as Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

Constitution:

Basic Law, approved in March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's "mini-constitution"

Legal system:

based on Portuguese civil law system

Suffrage:

direct election 18 years of age, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" (257 are currently registered) and a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies

Executive branch:

chief of state:  President of China JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) head of government:  Chief Executive Edmund HO Hau-wah (since 20 December 1999) cabinet:  Executive Council consists of all five government secretaries, three legislators, and two businessmen elections:  NA

Legislative branch:

unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (23 seats; 8 elected by popular vote, 8 by indirect vote, and 7 appointed by the chief executive; members serve four-year terms) elections:  last held 22 September 1996 (next to be held by 15 October 2001) election results:  percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - APPEM 2, UNIPRO 2, CODEM 1, UDM 1, UPD 1, ANMD 1

Judicial branch:

The Court of Final Appeal in the Macau Special Administrative Region

Political parties and leaders:

the following is a listing of those associations that participated in the last legislative elections: Associacao de Novo Macau Democratico or ANMD [leader NA]; Associacao Promotora para a Economia de Macau or APPEM [leader NA]; Convergencia para o Desenvolvimento or CODEM [leader NA]; Uniao Geral para o Desenvolvimento de Macau or UDM [leader NA]; Uniao para o Desenvolvimento or UPD [leader NA]; Uniao Promotora para o Progresso or UNIPRO [leader NA] note:  there are no formal political parties, but civic associations are used instead

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Catholic Church [Domingos LAM, bishop]; Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM [Stanley HO, managing director]; Union for Democracy Development [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong, leader]

International organization participation:

CCC, ESCAP (associate), IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), UNESCO (associate), WMO, WToO (associate), WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

none (special administrative region of China)

Diplomatic representation from the US:

the US has no offices in Macau, and US interests are monitored by the US Consulate General in Hong Kong

Flag description:

light green with a lotus flower above a stylized bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars: one large in center of arc and four smaller

Source: World Factbook