1976 Macanese legislative election

Legislative elections were held in Portuguese Macau on 11 July 1976,[1] returning 17 members of the Legislative Assembly of Macau, with 6 directly elected by electorates, 6 indirectly elected by special interest groups and 5 appointed by the Governor.

1976 Macanese legislative election

11 July 1976
Six of the 17 seats in the Legislative Assembly
Turnout	78.04%
Party Leader % Seats ADIM Carlos d'Assumpção 54.96 4 GEDEC Jorge Rangel 17.03 1 Democratic José Patrício Guterres 16.82 1 President after Carlos d'Assumpção ADIM

The Carnation Revolution 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.[2]

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.[3] Five out of six directly elected seats were won by Macau-born Portuguese,[4] 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.[5]

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 as the acting chair.[6] 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.[7]