Macau, China, 23 Mar – Businessman Ho Iat Seng, who has been mentioned as one of the potential candidates for the Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region of Macau from 20 December 2009, said Monday that he was “not a candidate for the post.”
Speaking to television station, Teledifusão de Macau (TDM) Ho Iat Seng , 51, one of the owners of the Ho Tin Industrial Company in Macau, and vice-president of the pro-China Macau Chamber of Commerce, gave assurances that he has no plans to run for office.
Nomination of a replacement for current Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah, who is due to end his second term as head of the Special Administrative Region of Macau on 19 December, 2009 is de 2009 is expected to take place in the second half of the year.
The electoral commission, made up of 300 Macau personalities, which will choose the future Chief Executive of Macau is expecetd to be named on 26 April.
Following Ho Iat Seng’s announcment the potential candidates for the role that continue to be mentioned are Fernando Chui Sai On and Francis Tam Pak Yun and Ho Chio Meng, Prosecutor General.
A MacauNews poll about “Who is likely to be the next Chief Executive” showed that the Secretary of State for Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yun is the favourite followed by Ho Chio Meng and Fernando Chui Sai On.
Another poll published by Closer magazine showed Ho Chio Meng as the favourite, followed by secretaries Francis Tam Pak Yuen and Fernando Chui Sai.
“Tam Pak Yun (59), responsible for Economy and Finance, has proved he has the ability to create dialogue and manage difficult situations. He runs the Macau government’s most delicate portfolio, namely the end of the gaming industry monopoly, and experienced the entry of an enormous amount of imported labour into the Territory to support economic development,” according to Macau Monitor.
Tam, who has been involved in Chinese politics since the 80s, got his degree in Business Administration in the United Kingdom and actually entered politics recently (post-1999), after a great deal of business experience in the textile and apparel sectors.
Macau Monitor also reported the background of Chui Sai On (51 years old), who is responsible for Social Services and Culture in the government and got his degree in the United States. “He is a specialist in health sector administration, and began his political career in local politics between 1992 and 1995 as a deputy of the Macau Legislative Council”.
Chui’s time in office has been marked by important events such as UNESCO’s decision to recognise Macau as a World Heritage destination, and he successfully prepared international sporting events such as the Lusophone Games, East Asian Games and Asian Indoor Games.
Ho Chio Meng was born in Macau in 1955. Ho studied law in Southwest University of Political Science and Law in China from 1979 to 1983, and was granted the degree of Bachelor of Law in 1983.
He took language and law courses at the University of Coimbra in Portugal from 1991 and returned to Macau in 1993.
He completed a doctoral course on Economic Law in the Faculty of Law of Beijing University in 2002 and became the first magistrate in Macau holding a Doctorate of Law.
Ho Chio Meng was appointed by the Central People’s Government as the first Prosecutor General of the Macau Special Administrative Region in August 1999.
On December 4, 2004, Ho was once again appointed as the Prosecutor General of Macau.
(MacauNews)
