The officially validated result of the sixth-term chief executive election has been published in the Official Gazette (BO) of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR).
According to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS), the notice was gazetted on Monday after the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) had validated the result and, consequently, confirmed former TUI president Sam Hou Fai as Chief Executive-elect.
The election took place on October 13. Its outcome was not contested. Sam won 98.99 percent of the 398 votes cast. Two of the 400 members of the Chief Executive Election Committee were absent.
Sam, 62, is slated to receive his MSAR chief executive appointment certificate from the State Council, expected to be represented by Premier Li Qiang, in Beijing in due course. Following his official designation by the State Council, Sam will be Macau’s Chief Executive-designate until his swearing-in by one of the most senior leaders of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on December 20, coinciding with the 25th Anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland.
Sam, who headed Macau’s highest court for nearly 25 years, has been elected for a five-year term at the helm of the MSAR. Macau’s chief executives can serve a maximum of two successive five-year terms.
Current Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, 67, announced in August that for health reasons he would not seek a second term.
Sam will be the MSAR’s fourth chief executive, after Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Fernando Chui Sai On and Ho Iat Seng. The first two served two terms each.
Macau’s political system is based on traditional Asian consensus politics. It is devoid of Western-style party politics.
Sam Hou Fai, the sixth-term Chief Executive-elect of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), delivers his acceptance speech after his election by a 400-member committee at the Forum Macao Complex in Nam Van on October 13. Sam garnered 394 of the 398 votes cast, or 98.99 percent. Two electors were absent. Sam is slated to be sworn in as the MSAR’s fourth chief executive on December 20, coinciding with the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of the MSAR, in accordance with the “One China, Two Countries” principle. – Xinhua
