Former Macau chief judge Sam Hou Fai has won the special administrative region’s chief executive election today, garnering 394 of the 398 votes cast by a 400-member election committee, or 98.99 percent of the ballots cast.
There were four blank and no invalid votes. Two electors were absent. To be elected, Sam needed to receive more than half of the votes, i.e., at least 201, cast by the 400-member committee representing a wide range of local, business, labour community and religious interests, as well as ex-office members, such as Macau’s 12 deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC).
Sam, 62, is from Zhongshan City, some 40 kilometres north of Macau in Guangdong Province, making him the first Macau chief executive born in the mainland. He graduated from Peking University's law school and moved to Macau in 1986.
In his acceptance speech at the peninsula’s Forum Macao Complex, where the election took place, Sam described the victory as the highest honour of his life, saying he was both humbled and excited. He said that he was fully prepared to devote himself to serving the city that he "deeply loves".
"Right now, Macau is welcoming the best period of its development. Let's grasp the opportunities and meet the challenges, work hard together and reform. We strive for development and prosperity, and build our homes in a better way together," Sam said.
Sam also said that Macau would contribute with its full strength to national rejuvenation and the building of a strong nation. “I stand here today, full of emotions. Because my life's path has always shared the same fate with the country, and Macau."
Sam pledged that he will unswervingly uphold the “One Country, Two Systems” principle and safeguard the nation’s sovereignty, security and development interests to promote Macau’s appropriately diversified economic development.
The chief executive elect, who's slated to take office on December 20, had served as the president of the Macau’s highest court, the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) since the MSAR was established on December 20, 1999. He resigned in August to run in the election.
Outgoing Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng announced in August that for health reasons he wasn't seeking a second five-year term.
In a statement released through the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS), Ho issued a statement in which he “cordially” congratulated the chief executive elect on the “substantial” number of votes that he received.
Sam will be the MSAR’s sixth-term and fourth chief executive. Macau’s first and second chief executives, Edmund Ho Hau Wah and Fernando Chui Sai On, served two five-year consecutive terms each, the maximum allowed under the Macau Basic Law.
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Chief Executive-elect Sam Hou Fai addresses a post-election press conference at the Forum Macao Complex today. - Photo: Tony Wong
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