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The pro-democracy camp (Chinese: 民主派; Portuguese: campo pró-democracia) or pan-democracy camp (泛民主派; campo pan-democrático) is a political alignment of politicians and social activists in Macau who support increased democracy and may work together in areas of common interest or by not fielding candidates against one another in elections.

Democratic activists are usually critical of the post-1999 Macanese government and the People's Republic of China's authoritarian government, which they say does not properly represent the will of the people. Its supporters also advocate a faster pace of democratization and implementation of universal and equal suffrage.

Members of the camp represent a very broad social and political demographic, from the working class to the middle class and professionals. Opposite to the pan-democracy camp is the pro-establishment camp, whose members are perceived to be supportive of the central government of China.

Basic beliefs

• Vindication of the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989
• Democratic reform in China
• Universal suffrage in Macau
• Improve human rights (See human rights in Macau and human rights in People's Republic of China)

History

Members of the camp include workers and social activists who are concerned about the question of Macau sovereignty and took part in Macau's elections in the early 1990s.

History of the pro-democracy camp can be traced back to the "livelihood faction" (Chinese: 民生派) in the 1980s, which provided welfare service and basic needs to the community. The faction, led by Alexandre Ho, gained popularity and political support, becoming the biggest challenge to the pro-Beijing traditional associations after winning three out of six directly-elected seats in 1988. However, as the associations started doing the same and allocated many resources to citizens, younger supporters questioned the pro-livelihood belief, citing the lack of competitivity for providing welfare when compared to the traditional associations. In 1996 legislative election, Antonio Ng, who represented the advocates of monitoring and overseeing the administration, was elected as lawmaker, while Ho lost his re-election bid, marking the shift of the mainstream ideology in the pro-democracy camp. Some still used "pro-democracy and livelihood camp" (Chinese: 民主民生派) to show the close relationship between the two.

Criticism of the movement

The movement is criticized by numerous groups including media which is controlled by the PRC mainland Chinese government authorities and post-1999 Government of Macau as an "opposition camp", since their concerns in regards to freedom of speech, freedom of press, and self-determination contradict the political stance of the PRC government. In some cases, pan-democracy activists have even been accused of high treason or being "traitors to Han Chinese".

Members of the camp

Civil organizations, individual social activists, political parties, political groups and lawmakers who share a similar belief in democracy are all considered members of this camp (the number of Legislative Deputies is shown in brackets).

The following entities are routinely referred to as members of the Pan-democracy camp:

• New Macau Association
  • New Democratic Macau Association (Au Kam San has quit the association as of 2016)
  • Prosperous Democratic Macau Association
• New Hope

Electoral performance

Legislative Council elections

Election	Number of popular votes	% of popular votes	Total seats	+/−	Status
2001	22,212	27.43	3 / 12	—	Minority
2005	35,896	28.75	3 / 12		Minority
2009	47,987	33.83	4 / 12	1	Minority
2013	39,727	27.13	4 / 14		Minority
2017	46,442	26.90	4 / 14		Minority
2021	18,232	13.81	2 / 14	2	Minority

See also

• Pro-Beijing camp (Macau)
• List of political parties and political groups in Macau
• Pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong)

References

1. Yu, Eilo; Chin, Natalie (2012). "The Political Opposition and Democracy in Macao: Revolutionaries or Loyalists?". Government and Opposition. 47 (1): 97–116. doi:10.1111/j.1477-7053.2011.01356.x. S2CID 145507276.
2. Yu, Eilo (2019). "論澳門一國兩制模式的可持續性". 二十一世紀評論.
3. Reis, Arsenio (2017-09-22). "澳門民主派的傳承". Plataforma Media (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 2022-06-14.
4. ""澳門選舉與政治文化的變遷與發展方向"座談會紀要" (PDF). 澳門學者同盟秘書處. 2009-10-31.
5. Jensen, Lionel M. Weston, Timothy B. (2006). China's Transformations: The Stories Beyond the Headlines. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-3863-X.

v t e Political civic associations in Macau
Pro-Beijing (30)	Macau Federation of Trade Unions (4) Macau United Citizens Association (3) Macau-Guangdong Union (2) Union for Development (2) Union for Promoting Progress (2) New Macau Development Union (1) Women's General Association of Macau (2)
Pro-democracy (2)	New Hope (2)
Unaligned (1)	Synergy of Macao (1)
Unrepresented	Alliance for Change Association for Democracy and Social Well-Being of Macau Association for Helping the Community and Engagement with the People Association for the Defense of Macau Interests Citizens' Rights Association Convergence for Development Democratic Centre of Macau Employees and Wage-Earners Association For Macau General Union for the Good of Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations of Macau Labor Union of Games and Gambling in Macau Macao Civic Power Macau Federation of Trade Unions New Macau Association New Vigour for Macau New Democratic Macau Association Plural Voices – Peoples of Macau Vision Macau
Portal:Politics List of political parties Politics of Macau

• Political party alliances in China
• Politics of Macau
• Chinese democracy movements
• Liberal parties