UNCLASSIFIED
HKCO20/1
RECE
18 JAN 1991
"AY
STRY
wiron famen
UNCLASSIFIED
FM BTC HONG KONG
TO ROUTINE FCO
TELNO 16
OF 150855Z JANUARY 91
AND TO ROUTINE LISBON
INFO ROUTINE HONG KONG
Ra.
Macau
C$ 14
117413
MDLIAN 0752
2
FCO FOR HONG KONG DEPARTMENT
(4)
LISBON'S TELNO 17 ON PORTUGAL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
VOTER APATHY IN MACAU: WAITING FOR A GOVERNOR
1. THERE ARE OVER 100,000 PORTUGUESE NATIONALS (MOSTLY ETHNIC CHINESE) IN MACAU. FOR THE 1991 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 12,497 BOTHERED TO REGISTER AND ONLY 16 PER CENT OR 1,993 CAST THEIR VOTES, OF WHICH 211 WERE BLANK OR SPOILED. THE FIGURES REFLECT THE FACT THAT ALTHOUGH MACAU REPORTS TO THE PRESIDENT FEW OF ITS RESIDENTS TAKE MUCH INTEREST IN PORTUGUESE POLITICS.
2.
IN 1986 35 PER CENT OF A SIMILAR NUMBER OF REGISTERED VOTERS ACTUALLY VOTED, AND IN THE FIRST ELECTION (1976) NEARLY 65 PER CENT OF A SMALLER NUMBER VOTED. LEMOS (HEAD OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES) TOLD GRAHAM THAT EVERYONE KNEW SOARES WOULD WIN AND SO DID NOT BOTHER TO VOTE, DESPITE GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGEMENT. DIPLOMATIC ADVISER FONSECA (WINDSURFING IN HAWAII ON ELECTION DAY) HAD SAID BEFORE CHRISTMAS THAT VOTER TURN-OUT WOULD BE LOW IN PORTUGAL AND DISMAL IN MACAU, AND SO IT PROVED.
3. THE QUESTION NOW IS WHETHER PRESIDENT SOARES APPOINTS A NEW GOVERNOR BEFORE HIS (RE) INAUGURATION ON 9 MARCH. THE ODDS MUST BE MARGINALLY IN FAVOUR, BUT WE HAVE NO CONFIRMATION YET.
HEAP
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DISTRIBUTION
470
470
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