Laws of the People's Republic of China

    Article 1  In accordance with the Basic Law of the Macao Special
Administrative Region ( hereinafter referred to as "the Basic Law") and the
Decision of the National People's Congress on the Method for the Formation
of the First Government, the First Legislative Council and the First
Judiciary of the Macao Special Administrative Region, this Method is
formulated in order to select the candidate for the first Chief Executive
of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

    Article 2  The candidate for the first Chief Executive shall be nominated
in accordance with the principle of fairness, impartiality, publicity,
democracy, and probity.

    Article 3  The candidate for the first Chief Executive must have the
following qualifications:

    1. A Chinese citizen who is a permanent resident of Macao with no right of
abode in any foreign  country or consenting to give up the right of abode in
any foreign country;

    2. Not less than 40 years of age;

    3. Have ordinarily resided in Macao for a continuous period of not less
than 20 years;

    4. Support the Basic Law;

    5. Give allegiance to the People's Republic of China and the Macao Special
Administrative Region.

    Among these qualifications, "not less than 40 years old" means already
being 40 by the cutoff date of the enrollment of the election; "have
ordinarily resided in Macao for a continuous period of not less than 20
years" means having ordinarily resided in Macao for a continuous period of not
less than 20 years by the cutoff date of the enrollment of the election,
calculation of such a period shall include the time of going abroad for
study, business or visiting relatives and friends when residing in Macao.

    Article 4  Current in-service public servants who intend to participate in
the selection of the First Chief Executive must resign their public service
and leave their post while enunciating their intention of participation.

    Article 5  People who intend to participate in the selection of the First
Chief Executive shall attend in their individual capacities. People who are
members of political parties must secede from these political parties while
enunciating their intention of participation.  

    Article 6  The selection of the first Chief Executive shall be taken charge
by the Chair Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Macao Special
Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred
to as "the Chair Meeting of the Preparatory Committee").

    Article 7  The first Chief Executive shall be selected through the method
of nomination by the Selection Committee for the First Government of the Macao
Special Administrative Region (hereinafter referred to as "the Selection
Committee"). The following are the specific procedures:

    A. Enrollment and Qualification Verification

    People who intend to participate in the selection of the first Chief
Executive shall enunciate their intention of participation to the Chair
Meeting of the Preparatory Committee in written form and shall submit a
Resume Form of Participant for the Office of the First Chief Executive of the
Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China while
enrolling for the selection. Participants for the selection of the Chief
Executive shall not be members of the Selection Committee. If a member of
the Selection Committee intends to participate in the selection, he must
simultaneously resigned his post in the Selection Committee while enunciating
his intention to participate in the selection. The vacancy shall be disposed
in accordance with Article 12 of the Method for the Formation of the
Selection Committee for the First Government of the Macao Special
Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

    The Chair Meeting of the Preparatory Committee shall be responsible for
the verification of qualification of people who have submitted Resume Form,
and when necessary may require them to provide certifying papers concerning
matters they wrote in the Form. People who have the qualification become
participants for the selection of the first Chief Executive and the Chair
Meeting of the Preparatory Committee shall publicize the list of the
participants.

    B. Nomination and Determination of Candidates

    The Selection Committee shall, on the basis of the list of participants,
bring forward candidates for the office of the first Chief Executive by secret
ballot after consultation. Each member of the Selection Committee may nominate
one candidate. When counting nomination ballots, the scrutineer elected
by the members of the Selection Committee shall oversee the counting.
Participants who nominated by not less than 20 members of the Selection
Committee become candidates for the office of  the first Chief Executive, who
shall be subsequently affirmed by the Chair Meeting of the Preparatory
Committee.

    The list of candidates and their brief introduction shall be printed and
distributed to all members of the Selection Committee and shall be announced
to the public.

    C. Election

    The Chair Meeting of the Preparatory Committee shall convene plenary
session of the Selection Committee. The candidates for the office of the first
Chief Executive shall report to the plenary session of the Selection Committee
their personal status and their administrative plans, and shall answer
questions from members of the Selection Committee.

    Members of the Selection Committee shall vote by secret ballot. Each
member may  vote for one candidate. Ballots voting for one candidate are
valid, and those voting for more than one candidates are invalid.

    Members of the Selection Committee shall elect mutually a scrutineer to
oversee the balloting. If the number of ballots is equal to or less than the
number of balloters, the vote is valid; if the number of ballots is more than
the number of balloters, the vote is invalid and must be hold again.

    The candidate who receives more than half of the votes of members of the
Selection Committee shall be elected. If no candidate receives more than half
of the votes, then the two leading candidates shall enter into a second round
vote and the one receiving more votes in the second round shall be elected.

    The scrutineer shall report the voting result to the Chair Meeting of the
Preparatory Committee, who shall then announce the voting result to the public.

    Article 8  The procedure selecting the candidate for the first Chief
Executive shall be completed within 45 days after the establishment of the
Selection Committee.

    Article 9  Participants and candidates for the first Chief Executive shall
not carry out personal abuse on each other and shall not bribe members of the
Selection Committee or offer or promise to offer them any benefits.

    The Chair Meeting of the Preparatory Committee shall be responsible for
supervising the vote and handling appeals.

    Article 10  After the recommended candidate for the first Chief Executive
is elected, the Preparatory Committee shall report to the Central Government
for appointment.

    Article 11  Matters not stipulated in this Method may be
supplemented by the Plenary Session of the Preparatory Committee in accordance
with the proposal of the Chair Meeting of the Preparatory Committee.

    Article 12  The Chair Meeting of the Preparatory Committee shall be
responsible for the interpretation of this Method.