Anyone who walks by will leave traces｜Interview with President of the Legislative Council, Ho Iat Seng - "I will definitely change!" #01

This article is specially reprinted by Macao independent media "On All Media". Recently, we started to contribute to "On All" and launched a new subscription plan in cooperation with Patreon. At the same time, we reprinted selected articles from "On All" on Matters, so that readers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait can better understand Macau. social issues.

Our words: Ho Iat Seng, the current Chief Executive of Macau, is represented by traditional associations, the National People's Congress, and Gao has risen to one person in Macau. A key step in his political career was when he became Legislative Council chairman in 2013. This exclusive interview was conducted in 2014, and its preciousness in the current context does not need to be emphasized. In the article, "He Dad" emphasized that the lack of administrative control will become hegemony, the effectiveness of the legislature, and officials should be held accountable. The proverb says that when you walk, you leave traces.

"Four years ago, when I entered the Legislative Council, I was trembling, and I didn't even know the operation of the Legislative Council. But today, four years later, I am very confident. I know what the Legislative Council should do and what it can do."

He Yicheng, a businessman, has served as a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress since 2001, a member of the Macau Executive Council in 2004, and a member of the elected member of the Legislative Council in 2009. Faced with the constant criticism of the Legislative Council as a "garbage society", Ho Iat-shing said confidently, "I will definitely change!"

Legislative Council needs more checks and balances on government

Ho Iat Seng said that the Macau Basic Law has a clear definition of the relationship between the government and the Legislative Council: "Cooperating with each other, the Legislative Council checks and balances each other." "I think the cooperation has been done very well, because all the laws of the government are submitted to the legislation. If we can make it out, we will all come. The first function of the Legislative Council is to make legislation, and legislation is for the government to administer according to the law. We have fulfilled our responsibilities in this regard, and we are basically in line with the functions entrusted to the Legislative Council by the Basic Law. , If you can't even do legislation, you can call us a "garbage society" first."

However, he admitted that in the 14 years since Macau's return to the motherland, the Legislative Council has not done enough to supervise the government's governance. "I understand that now we talk too much about cooperation and less about checks and balances. I know the society wants us to have more checks and balances, and that's a fact."

"Any executive power, when there is no checks and balances, will become a hegemony." "We can see on a daily basis whether the government has actually implemented the laws we have enacted in its administration, and how the original laws are administered in accordance with the law. As legislation Members of the council have the responsibility to supervise the situation.”

Financial oversight is a top priority

In fact, the former two Legislative Council chairmen, Cao Qizhen and Lau Cheuk-wah, also pointed out that the Legislative Council lacks the government's financial oversight. Ho Iat Seng said: "In terms of financial supervision, the fundamental problem is that the government does not cooperate. The budgets of construction projects can be misappropriated from each other, which is illegal in the Mainland! But in Macau's budget law, it is allowed to do so."

"Hey! I'll pay you to buy a cup. There's no reason for you to buy an ashtray with me, right?"

He said that now the government has an annual budget of more than 80 billion yuan. If the Legislative Council ignores the issue of government spending, it will cause a lot of division and suspicion in the society. If the system is "one radish and one hole", if the system is well managed, it will force the government to make a serious budget.

Ho Iat Seng abstained from voting on the government's budget bill for the first time in parliament. In addition, three members of the Democratic Party voted against it, and the rest all voted in favor. As an alternately elected member, this move even surprised the senior reporters present.

"At that time, a reporter asked me if I was wrong? I said no, this is my attitude. There is no reason to hand over all the rollovers to the government. It is impossible for Macao to implement a fiscal reserve law. Fiscal reserves , is the "coffin book" of the people of Macau. There are no flowers in a hundred days. We can't always have so much fiscal revenue. I want to force the government to pay attention to it." Later, the government proposed the Legislative Council to enact a law on the fiscal reserve system. .

"Pumping the scales" official's responsibilities

"Think about it, over the years, when has the Legislative Council tried to ask five secretaries to come up and be questioned by members, and Su Zhaohui was dumbfounded when I asked him. I asked you how much money does it take to train a person? I It's not a matter of "picking the scales", I have only come to you after the official budget has been approved, and I have already saved face. I will not make things difficult for you, but you have to explain to me, I have given a warning, you have to be careful !"

"I said at the time, in 2014, I didn't know whether I was a member of parliament or not, but today I am a member of parliament. I will focus on the next 58 innings, all of which will be posted on the screen, and all of them will be photographed once. I will be shocked. Although there is no illegal or corruption, all the departments used are returned to the government, but 80 billion yuan, 560,000 people, this budget is too large. Let's look at the entire central government's 98 departments, all are only 2,000 yuan. It’s just more than 100 million administrative expenses. Let’s talk about Macau in detail, 80 billion, 1.3 billion people and 560,000 people, I really don’t know how to calculate. So if we have to discuss with the government, the budget must be reduced. It cannot be increased indefinitely.”

"I think the budget is my strong point. Their officials are not brave enough to tell me anything. When it comes to counting, no one can tell me. I have a lot of information in the whole country, and I have a small number in Macau. Do you care? Where are your loopholes? I can’t see them? If there are loopholes, governance will become hilarious, and the government’s prestige will be undermined more and more.”

"I'll just say one sentence, be realistic. You should use it, we won't let you use it, but I don't want you to leave vacancies. The more vacancies, the more waste you will waste. This is inevitable, the boss will give me half a million Going on a business trip, going out a few times, it doesn't seem like a good "old lining". I don't exceed 500,000, I'm right."

"So, if the government has money, it can't be laundered. Although you are rich today, it does not mean it will be permanent. You must remember that there are no three generations of wealth!"

"So the Outline Budget Law must be passed in this year's Legislative Council, it must be! The government must be healthy in financial management, and budgeting must be done carefully, because there will be investment in the five major reclamation projects in ABCDE. These are the It is very important. If no one is in charge, the government will become more and more lax and wasteful. I will urge every day and night to urge the law in 1983 to be 30 years old. If it is not amended, the government will not be able to hand over business. Next year, why don't you explain it? You have to seize the moment!"

Will not overstep the authority

"Keeping the government's money is one of the important functions overseen by the Legislative Council. We have basically closed the loopholes in land, cultural heritage, and planning. For the new contract, it is no longer possible to achieve what we call the transfer of benefits. However, the next step is to manage money well. For ordinary people, the third is to look at money. First of all, the living environment should not be messed up, and interests should not be channeled. Third, it should not waste public money. This is The events we are going to do are very simple and not too complicated.”

"We don't do anything beyond our authority, but we can't be absent."

"The increase in the prestige of the entire Legislative Council is not about competing with the government for some authority, but where we should be in place, we must be there. When we are in place and do a good job, we are actually helping the chief executive to take care of the people below."

"Frankly, I'm a bad guy, you're a good guy."

"Do you think it's fun? Ask the director of the sun to go up, everyone is familiar with it, and the quality is all. It's too expensive, and the price is too high, but I have to do it all. I have to ask questions about the scope of my duties."

"We give opinions to protect the government. We give opinions for the sake of the prestige of the government. We do not really want to overthrow your government. Even now, whether it is your newspaper or the Newspaper, these newspapers are not for To overthrow the government, but to remind the government of the problems. We all know where the problems are. You can call me a pro-establishment faction or whatever, but I am a part of Macau and I see the problems.”

Lawmakers need 'heart-to-heart'

He Yicheng said that the supervision is easy for the public to see, but the legislation is not easy to understand. The law is often criticized by the public as a "bad law" as soon as it is promulgated.

"The law is a line. Once the line is drawn, it is illegal to cross the line."

As a legislator, Ho Iat Seng believes that the most important thing is to "come to heart". He said that in the last Legislative Council, the last major laws were passed, but only the old district reorganization law was not passed.

He said, "Several members put together a piece of the bill to spell out this draft law. Although their starting point was good, they forgot one point, which is the protection of private property. As a legislator, you have to play a role, and then you will know The problem lies. Everyone can’t speak at the highest level. Who can’t speak at a high level? For the sake of the overall development of Macau, everyone will speak. But we have to turn our heads and think about it, as ordinary people , I have lived in this house for so long, how can it be auctioned all of a sudden? I said this is against the Basic Law.”

As President of the Legislative Council, Ho Iat-shing expressed that he did not want the public to regard the Legislative Council as a "garbage society", but as a member of the Legislative Council, he should self-examine. "The work of the Legislative Council is not as messy as the people say. After these 14 years, it has become very systematic. When Chairman Cao Qizhen took over when he returned, he has done a lot of foreshadowing. Chairman Lau Cheuk-wah follows this The problem of laying the groundwork and then strengthening the system is to strengthen the entire management and conception, and I hope everyone can accept my set.”

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