The candidacy of former president of the Court of Final Appeal of Macao Sam Hou Fai to lead the semi-autonomous Chinese region's government has been accepted, the electoral commission said today.
The Electoral Affairs Commission for the Chief Executive has confirmed that Sam Hou Fai will be the sole candidate, after the magistrate was the only one to submit the necessary documents by the deadline of September 11.
In a statement, the body responsible for organizing the election said that Sam Hou Fai had secured the written support of 386 of the 400 members of the Chief Executive Election Committee (CECE).
The body will elect the new leader of the Macao government on October 13, who will later be formally appointed by Beijing.
Candidates must obtain the written support of at least 66 CECE members and each member can only support one candidate.
The CECE members come from the four sectors of society as defined by the Basic Law (Macao's "mini-constitution"): industrial, commercial and financial; cultural, educational, professional; work, social services and religion; and political.
In the same statement, the commission announced that the "sincere declaration" submitted by Sam Hou Fai, in which he states that he upholds the Basic Law and is loyal to China and the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), was also accepted.
This requirement is included in the new electoral law, approved in 2023, and which, according to the Government, aims to "take another step in implementing the principle of 'Macao governed by patriots'".
The Macao State Security Defence Commission "verified and approved the candidate's qualifications in terms of upholding the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region and loyalty to the People's Republic of China and the Macao SAR", the statement said.
Unless Sam Hou Fai or a member of the CECE files a complaint by the end of Thursday, the candidacy will be definitively admitted the following day.
If elected, Sam will be the first Portuguese-speaking chief executive.
Born in May 1962 in Zhongshan, in the neighbouring Chinese province of Guangdong, Sam completed his law degree at Peking University and later attended the Law and Portuguese Language and Culture courses at the University of Coimbra.
The term of office of the current leader of the Government, Ho Iat Seng, ends on 19 December, with the inauguration ceremony of the new Chief Executive scheduled for 20 December, the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the MSAR, following the transfer of the administration of Macau from Portugal to China.
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