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Sam Hou Fai was elected yesterday as the sixth-term chief executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), pending appointment by central government.
He won the election with 394 votes in favor out of 398 valid ballots. Song Man Lei, president of the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Chief Executive Election, announced Sam as the winner.
Born in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, in 1962, Sam graduated from Peking University as a law major and moved to Macau in 1986.
He joined the first group of Macau’s judicial auditors in 1995 and was appointed president of Macau’s Court of Final Appeal (TUI) on December 20, 1999, when Macau returned to the motherland.
From then to August 2024, Sam also served as the chairman of Macau ‘s Judicial Council, a member of the Independent Committee for the Nomination of Judges, a member of the working group on interregional judicial assistance and international judicial cooperation, and the honorary chairman of the Macau SAR Basic Law Promotion Association.
During his tenure as president of the Court of Final Appeal, Sam once said that the court and the entire judicial system had played an essential role as a “stabilizer” and “ballast stone” in the practice of “One Country, Two Systems,” “Macau people administering Macau “ and a high degree of autonomy.
After serving for almost 25 years as president of the Court of Final Appeal, Sam resigned in August this year before announcing his bid for the chief executive election.
When Sam announced his bid, he underlined his attachment to the city, saying that although he was not born in Macau, he had built a family there during his 40-year judicial career, with three generations living in the city. Sam said he believed many Macau residents would agree that he was “an old Macau citizen.”
His decision to run in the election, according to him, is driven by the call of times for the implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle to contribute to national rejuvenation, as well as a commitment to Macau ‘s prosperity, stability, even better future and Macau residents’ well-being.
On September 28, Sam presented his political platform to the public, in which he stated the need to enhance public governance capabilities and levels, called for accelerating appropriate economic diversification, proposed better integration into and serving the national development, highlighted the need to improve education, science and technology talent systems, and emphasized the importance of improving people’s livelihoods.
In a speech after the election result was announced yesterday, Sam stressed that he would be steadfast in his significant duties and responsibilities to be accountable to the central government and the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR)
He also underlined his commitment to faithfully fulfilling his political platform and manifesto, with the primary goal of meeting people’s expectations for a better life, with the comprehensive and accurate implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” policy as the fundamental guideline, maintaining national sovereignty, security, and development interests as the highest principle, and accelerating the promotion of appropriate economic diversification, as well as better integrating into and serving the overall national development as the mission and vision.
– Xinhua, MPD
