For police, which shut down polling stations within hours of their opening, collecting personal opinions is illegal. The next chief executive is set to be elected this Sunday by 400 electors. For China, the referendum calling for universal suffrage in the choice of chief executive is illegal.

Macao (AsiaNews/Agencies) - An unofficial referendum on Macau's chief executive election was halted yesterday just a few hours after it started. Two of its main organisers and three other activists were detained but later released.

The referendum was a remake of the poll held in Hong Kong by the Occupy Central group, which saw the participation of nearly 800,000 people.

A certain urgency prevails in Macau because next Sunday the territory's new chief executive will be picked by 400 government-appointed electors representing various social groups.

Fernando Chui Sai-on is expected to be re-elected. Unpopular because of his inability to ensure greater social equity, he is suspected of corruption for trying to pass laws that granted outgoing government members greater pension benefits.

Polling stations opened Saturday morning, only to be stormed by police. Five referendum activists were arrested on the grounds that private opinions could not be collected.

When voting was halted only a few thousand people had cast their ballot.

Chui said that the activists' poll "does not comply with the Basic Law", the territory's constitution agreed to by Beijing, which also slammed the poll as illegal.

Unlike Hong Kong, where local Catholics and bishops backed the referendum, the Church and the bishop in Macau have kept a very low profile.

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