Macau, China, 26 Jul – Former Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Fernando Chui Sai On was elected today as Macau’s next Chief Executive after getting 282 votes, or 94 per cent of the votes from the 300-member Election Committee.
Fernando Chui Sai On will replace Edmund Ho Hau Wah who has governed Macau since the enclave was returned to China in December 1999 after 442 years of Portuguese colonial rule.
Chui will be appointed by the Central Government as the Third-term Chief Executive and will take office on 20 December.
Fernando Chui Sai On was the sole candidate in the race for the former Portuguese colony’s chief, but he still required the formal backing of a 300-member election committee.
A total of 297 members of the Election Committee attended with 296 members casting their votes. There were 14 blank votes.
The election result will be gazetted after confirmation by the Court of Final Appeal.
At a press conference after the election, Fernando Chui Sai On said he “shall draw on the suggestions from various sectors of the community and the citizens (…) continue to consult extensively the views of the general public and stay closely connected with the life of the people”.
He also praise Edmund Ho Hau Wah that “ten years ago led Macau people and took up the historic responsibility of opening a new era of “One Country Two Systems” and “Macau People Governing Macau”. He got Macau out of a slump and wrote a new chapter in Macau history”.
Fernando Chui Sai On also said he not only feel the excitement of being elected but also the heavy responsibility of “Building Harmony through Heritage and Innovation”.
Born in Macau in January 1957, from a from a family living in Macau for many generations, Fernando Chui Sai On graduated from the California State University at Sacramento in Community Health and later obtained a master degree in Health Administration and a Ph.d in Public Health at the University of Oklahoma.
Chui Sai On served on the Legislative Assembly from 1992 to 1995 and was Chief of Medical and Health Department of the Tung Sin Tong Charitable Institution and Executive Director of Kiang Wu Hospital Board of Charity.
In August 1999 Chui Sai On was appointed Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macau government and in December 2004 was reappointed for a second term as secretary.
Fernando Chui Sai On resigned on May 12 as Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macau government to run for the post of Macau Chief Executive.
(MacauNews)
