Macau’s sole candidate, Sam Hou Fai, has been elected as the SAR’s next Chief Executive after earning a record 394 votes from the Election Committee. He will officially take office on 20 December, replacing current Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng who is stepping aside for health reasons.
A total of 398 Election Committee members voted in Sunday’s election. After around an hour-and-a-half of voting and counting, there were 394 valid votes and four blank votes, with the 62-year-old receiving all valid votes to serve Macau’s sixth Chief Executive term since handover. His 98.99% of the vote was the highest such percentage ever recorded.
“I would like to thank all sectors of the community for their recognition so that I can continue to serve Macau, the country and the general public in a higher, more comprehensive and broader scope,” Sam said afterwards.
During his election campaign, Sam said he hoped to build Macau into a “lawful Macau”, a “vibrant Macau”, a “cultural Macau” and a “happy Macau”, and repeatedly emphasized the need for the SAR to integrate into the overall direction of the country’s development.
However, he seldom mentioned Macau’s dominant gaming industry. At a press conference in August, he stated, “Macau’s gaming industry had once expanded in an uncontrolled and barbaric manner, which was detrimental to the development of society.”
At a question and answer session on 28 September, he emphasized that he does not intend to “shrink or stop the gaming industry, but to develop it in a healthy and orderly manner, and to develop the tourism and gaming industry in accordance with the law.”
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