Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has extended his holiday from today through July 29, the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) has announced today.
According to the statement, Ho "has used his vacation to undergo routine physical examinations and received necessary diagnosis and treatment. He is currently in good health."
The bureau said that it issued the statement "in response do recent media enquiries about the chief executive's vacation."
According to official records, Ho's now twice-extended holiday originally began on June 21, after which it was extended from July 4 until yesterday. The initial holiday lasted 13 days, while the one extended on July 4 lasted 16 days. The second extension is slated to last 10 days.
According to official records, Ho, who took office on December 20, 2019, did not take any holiday during the three-year COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 through 2022. Since assuming office, Ho took a holiday for the first time last year, for just three days at the end of April.
Ho, born in Macau in June 1957, is a former president of the Macau Legislative Assembly and an ex-deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing where he was a member of its top Standing Committee. He was a businessman until he become Macau's third chief executive, after Edmund Ho Hau Wah and Fernando Chui Sai On.
Informed sources have told the Post that Ho will announce his candidacy for a second and constitutionally final five-year term at the helm of the local government "soon after" the August 11 election of Chief Executive Election Committee. Ho is known to be a "hard worker".
Secretary for Administration and Justice Andre Cheong Weng Chon is acting chief executive during Ho's leave.
Undated file photo of Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng downleaded from the Government Portal of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC)
