Civic group Choi In Tong Sam Association (CITS) has expressed its intention to participate in 2013 Legislative Assembly (AL) elections while Macanese activist Luiz Pedruco is also preparing a bid. CITS celebrated its first anniversary yesterday and chairwoman Leung Yuk Wah confirmed on the sidelines of the event that the association would participate in the 2013 election, aiming to increase upon their three AL seats. She did not mention how many seats CITS was confident of winning. Currently, the association has three members in AL, including Kwan Tsui Hang, Lee Chong Cheong and Lam Heong Sang – all members of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions. At the moment, she said the association’s major works would continue to be training new political talents and supporting the works of its lawmakers through exchange and communication programmes with local groups and individual citizens. CITS is also keen on analysing public issues and policies, especially issues concerning upward mobility of workers, housing and public transport. The association is enlarging its network, Leung said, in order to promote the debate on public issues and better supervise the government. Meanwhile Luiz Frederico da Silva Pedruco also confirmed to Macau Daily Times that he was invited to head a bid for the 2013 AL elections. The goal is “to activate the interest of the local people, mainly Macanese and Portuguese, as well as expatriate permanent residents, to be more involved in local affairs”. “I don’t know if it’s due to tradition or lack of opportunities but they are very reserved in their public participation,” he bemoaned. The accountant wants “to instigate new blood to come into the political system”. “Traditionally there is always the same very small number of people joining the discussion,” he stressed. The focus of the bid will be on “how to turn Macau into a truly international city,” Pedruco said. “I would like our campaign to bring it to the attention of the public at large, as well as the Executive, to the way we think things should be done,” he added. For the orginal article click here