Lawmaker-cum-banker Alan Ho Ion Sang was elected second secretary of the executive board of the Legislative Assembly (AL) by his peers on Wednesday, succeeding legislator-cum-educator Chan Hong who was elected the board’s first secretary late last month.
The Legislative Assembly currently has 32 members after chief executive candidate Ho Iat Seng resigned from the legislature early last month.
Alan Ho, a directly-elected legislator, received 25 of the 32 votes cast. Three votes were left blank, while four lawmakers each got one vote – directly-elected lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I, indirectly-elected lawmaker representing the city’s professional sector Chan Iek Lap, indirectly-elected lawmaker representing the cultural and sports sector Vitor Cheung Lup Kwan, and appointed lawmaker Ma Chi Seng.
The four-member executive board – the legislature’s top management body – consists of the legislature’s president (speaker), vice-president, first secretary and second secretary.
Following Ho Iat Seng’s resignation on July 5, veteran lawmaker-cum-business executive Kou Hoi In was elected the legislature’s new president on July 17. Kou was the first secretary of the legislature’s executive board before taking up the post of the legislature’s speaker. Afterwards, Chan Hong, the then second secretary of the executive board, was elected the board’s first secretary on July 30.
Kou, an indirectly-elected legislator representing the city’s industrial, commercial and financial sector, is the president of the Macau Chamber of Commerce (ACM) which is widely seen as Macau’s most influential organisation. He is also a deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC). There are 12 NPC deputies from Macau.
Chan Hong, an indirectly-elected legislator representing the city’s social services and educational sector, is one of the two deputy principals of Hou Kong Middle School.
Alan Ho is a director of the local branch of the Bank of China (BOC) for customer relations and a vice-chairman of the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (commonly known as Kai Fong). The civil leader was first elected as a directly-elected lawmaker in 2009, and was re-elected in 2013 and 2017.
According to the Macau Post Daily, Alan Ho currently heads the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee, one of the three standing committees of the legislature.