Responding to Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai’s remark last week that he would attend a meeting of the Legislative Assembly (AL) next month to summarise his work over the past five years, AL President Ho Iat Seng Thursday urged Chui to consider using a “different method” in which lawmakers could raise questions about the government’s work during that period.
The point is that Chui’s remark appeared to indicate that the meeting would not include a question-and-answer session – same as in 2009 when the city’s then chief executive, Edmund Ho Hau Wah, summarised his work during his final five-year term.
Ho made the appeal after Thursday’s first plenary meeting of the legislature after its two-month summer recess.
Meeting with the media in his office, Ho, an indirectly-elected lawmaker representing the city’s business sector, said that there were six bills under discussion by the legislature’s committees, not including a bill on animal protection which the legislature received
Ho said he could not confirm whether the government would submit more bills before the end of Chui’s current term that ends on December 20.
Ho also said that as Chui had already told the media that next month he would not, as usual, deliver a policy address for next year but wrap up his work over the past five years instead.
Chui said last week he would deliver his 2015 Policy Address early next year.
“The chief executive also said that he would follow the 2009 path,” Ho said.
In late 2009, Macau’s then chief executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah attended a meeting of the legislature to summarise his work during his final five-year term and a present a mini-budget, but there was no Q&A session and none of his five policy secretaries presented details of their respective portfolios.”
Customarily, the five policy secretaries present details of their respective portfolios to the legislature after the chief executive’s policy address.
Ho also said that he had not yet been officially informed by the government as to when Chui would visit the legislature to summarise his work and how he planned to proceed during the meeting.
Customarily, the chief executive delivers just one policy address to the Legislative Assembly (AL) per year, while the government usually presents its annual budget to the legislature for debate and vote every November. The change in schedule is due to the fact that Chui’s new cabinet will start working only at the end of this year.
When asked by reporters as to whether he would take the initiative to ask Chui for a Q&A session after his wrap-up, Ho replied in the affirmative.
“This time I think he [Chui] should consider using a different method [from 2009] …if the chief executive makes any change [his position] we’ll co-operate,” Ho said.
Ho also said he hoped the government would confirm the “main principles” of its current bills before any possible changes in its top policy posts later this year.(macaunews/macaupost)
