At stake in this election:

• 12 seats in the Legislative Council (Região Administrativa Especial de Macau)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President of China HU Jintao
• Head of Government: Chief Executive Edmund HO Hau-wah ** (from 20 December 1999 - 20 December 2009)
• Assembly: Macau has a unicameral Legislative Council (Região Administrativa Especial de Macau) with 29 seats.

** 300-member electoral college.

Description of electoral system:

• The President of China is ex officio by the National People's Congress to serve a 5-year term.
• Chief Executive is elected by an electoral college to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Legislative Council (Região Administrativa Especial de Macau), 12 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms, 10 members are elected by an electoral college to serve 4-year terms and 7 members are appointed by the chief executive to serve 4-year terms.***

*** The electoral college comprises members of various corporate interests. It elects ten members under a closed-list PR system in one nationwide district. The directly elected members are elected under closed list PR in one nationwide district.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: United Citizens Association of Macau / Associação dos Cidadãos Unidos de Macau 澳門民聯協進會**
• Party: Union for Development / União Para O Desenvolvimento 同心協進會***
• Party: Alliance for the Development of Macau/Aliança para Desenvolvimento de Macau
• Party: New Democratic Macau Association/Associação de Novo Macau Democrático
• Party: Union for Promoting Progress/União Promotora para o Progresso

* Led a coalition of 7 pro-democratic parties in the Macanese election.
** Led a coalition of 5 pro-business parties in the Macanese elections.
*** Led a coalition of 4 traditionalist parties in the election.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 468,149 (2005)
• Registered Voters: 220,653 (2005)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 243,811 (2005)

·         Is Macau a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has Macau ratified CEDAW: N/A

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 6 (following the 2005 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: N/A

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Macau a signatory to CRPD: N/A

·         Has Macau ratified CRPD: N/A

·         Population with a disability: 78,210 (est.)