1976 Macanese legislative election was held in

Portuguese Macau Portuguese Macau (officially the Province of Macau until 1976, and then the Autonomous Region of Macau from 1976 to 1999) was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony that existed from the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 to the ...

on 11 July 1976, returning 17 members of the

Legislative Assembly of Macau The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (; ) is the organ of the legislative branch of Macau. It is a 33-member body comprising 14 directly elected members, 12 indirectly elected members representing functional con ...

, with 6 directly elected by electorates, 6 indirectly elected by special interest groups and 5 appointed by the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

in 1974 by the left-leaning military officers overthrew the Portuguese Government. The new government started the transition to democracy and decolonization in various colonies, including Macau which the sovereignty could be handed back to China. Democratic reforms were implemented in the city, such as the introduction of democratic elected seats in the Legislative Assembly through the newly enacted

Organic Statute of Macau The Organic Statute of Macau ( pt, Estatuto Orgânico de Macau, EOM; ) was a Portuguese organic law (Law No. 1/76) that provided for government in Portuguese Macau. Approved on 17 February 1976, the Portuguese legislation also reclassified Macau ...

. This was the first election after the legislature was revamped. Only those with Portuguese nationality or the descendants of Portuguese people were eligible to vote, and hence the Chinese cannot elect the members. Five out of six directly elected seats were won by Macau-born Portuguese, of which 4 were from Association for the Defense of Macau Interest led by conservative Carlos d'Assumpção, and 1 from Democratic Centre of Macau led by radicals supporting

handover of Macau The transfer of sovereignty of Macau (; pt, Transferência da soberania de Macau) from Portugal to the People's Republic of China (PRC) occurred on 20 December 1999. Macau was settled by Portuguese merchants in 1557, during the Ming dynasty ...

. Governor José Eduardo Martinho Garcia Leandro then appointed five other members to the Legislative Assembly. On 9 August 1976, the new Legislative Assembly convened its first meeting, with influential pro-Beijing businessman

Ho Yin Ho Yin (; 1 December 1908 – 6 December 1983) was a businessman, politician and senior leader of the Chinese community in Macau. Biography Ho Yin was born in Panyu, in the Pearl River Delta region, north of Macau on 1 December 1908, when ...

as the acting chair. A day later, Carlos d'Assumpção, the leader of the largest parliamentary faction, was elected the President of the Legislative Assembly, a position which he would hold until his death in 1992.

Elected and appointed members

Results

Results are as follows:

Direct election

, - style="text-align:center;" ! class="unsortable", ! style="text-align:center;" , Political affiliation
! style="text-align:right;" , Popular votes
! style="text-align:right;" , % of Votes
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% of vote
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! style="text-align:right;" , Net change
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Association for the Defense of Macau Interests Association for the Defense of Macau Interests (; ; ADIM) was a Portuguese conservative and localist political association based in Macau. Founded on 19 June 1974 by Delfino José Rodrigues Ribeiro and Carlos Augusto Corrêa Paes d’Assumpção ...

(ADIM) , , 1,497 , , 54.96 , , , , 4 , , 4 , - , style="background-color:;" , , , style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Centre of Macau (CDM) , , 458 , , 16.82 , , , , 1 , , 1 , - , style="background-color:;" , , , style="text-align:left;" , Study Group for Community Development of Macau (GEDEC) , , 464 , , 17.03 , , , , 1 , , 1 , - , style="background-color:;" , , , style="text-align:left;" , Independent Group of Macau (GIMA) , , 305 , , 11.12 , , , , 0 , , , - ! colspan="7" , , - , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Valid votes , , 2,724 , , ! !! !! , - , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Invalid votes , , 43 , , ! !! !! , - , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Blank votes , , 79 , , ! !! !! , - class="unsortable" ! colspan="2" , Total and Turnout !! 2,846 !! 78.04 !! !! 6 !! , - , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Eligible voters , , 3,647 , , ! !! !!

Indirect election

References

{{Macanese elections 1976 elections 1976 in Macau Elections in Macau July 1976 events