Businessman Chui Sai Cheong – the elder brother of Chief Executive Chui Sai On – was elected vice-president of the legislature Monday, while businessman Ho Iat Seng was re-elected president.
Chui Sai Cheong, an auditor by profession, told reporters after he had been elected that he would assist the legislature’s president in carrying out his duties well, apart from helping him monitor the government’s activities.
Ho and Chui Sai Cheong, both indirectly-elected lawmakers, were elected to their positions on the legislature’s executive board in a plenary session Monday.
After the direct and indirect legislative elections took place on September 17, the new four-year term of the Legislative Assembly (AL) started Monday.
Ho was re-elected in the commerce and finance sector while Chui Sai Cheong was re-elected in the professional sector last month.
According to the Macau Post Daily Ho is Macau’s only deputy to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing. Consequently, he is one of Macau’s highest-ranking community leaders.
Ho received 30 of the 33 votes cast. Two votes were for directly-elected lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong and one vote was blank. Chui Sai Cheong received 29 of the 33 votes cast. Two votes were blank and two votes were also for Ng.
After his re-election, Ho told his fellow lawmakers in the hemicycle that he appreciated their support for him to continue presiding over the legislature
In Mondays’s plenum, indirectly-elected lawmaker Kou Hoi In was elected the first secretary of the executive board, while indirectly-elected lawmaker Chan Hong was elected its second secretary.
The executive board is the legislature’s top management body. Informed sources told The Macau Post Daily that Monday’s executive board elections had been arranged “behind the scenes some time ago.”
One of the sources said that “this kind of arrangement is absolutely normal in any parliament t in the world,” adding that Chui Sai Cheong “deserves the vice-presidential position as he of the legislature’s longest-members” (since 1999).
Another of the sources said it would be morally wrong to “restrict” someone political rights “just because his brother happens to be the chief executive.
Chui Sai Cheong succeds unionist Lam Heng Sang who has retired from the legislature.Lam
Before the 33 members of the legislature attended Monday´s session , they took their oaths in the Government Headquarters overseen by Chui Sai On.
After Ho’s oath-taking ceremony, he and his fellow legislators returned to the legislature’s hemicycle for the new term’s first plenary session. The elections of the vice-president, the first secretary and the second secretary of the legislature’s executive board took place after Ho’s oath-taking ceremony.
Speaking to reporters in the legislative chamber, Chui Sai Cheong said that one of his major duties in the four-year term was to provide “good assistance” to the legislature’s president.
When asked by a reporter whether he thought that the legislature’s monitoring of the government could be undermined as he is the legislature’s vice-president as well as the brother of the chief executive, Chui Sai Cheong replied that he did not believe that a single member can adversely impact the operation of the 33-member legislature.
Ho also told reporters he intended to serve his full four-year term as speaker of the Legislative Assembly. This would exclude Ho from running for chief executive in 2019.
According to the Macau Post Daily while Ho had never said that he was interested in running for Macau’s top post, there had been media speculation on the matter for some time. This was also the case before Chui’s election as chief executive in 2009.
The legislature’s three follow-up committees are Follow-up Committee for Land and Public Concession Affairs, Follow-up Committee for Public Finance Affairs and Follow-up Committee for Public Administration Affairs.
The legislature comprises 14 directly-elected and 12 indirectly-elected members as well as seven members appointed by the chief executive. The composition of the legislature remains the same as in the previous term (2013-2017).
