2009 Macanese Chief Executive election
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| Politics and government of Macau |
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Chief Executive elections were held in Macau on 26 July 2009 for the third term of the Chief Executive of Macau (CE), the highest office of the Macau Special Administrative Region. Fernando Chui was elected without contest after incumbent Chief Executive Edmund Ho was ineligible for re-election due to having served two terms.
Background
[edit]Under the Basic Law of Macau, the mini-constitution, incumbent Chief Executive Edmund Ho was ineligible to run again for the top office as he was re-elected in 2004, meaning a new leader must be selected. Rumours started floating around in 2007, suggesting various high-ranking officials will be running in the election, including Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Fernando Chui, Procurator General Ho Chio-meng, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Executive Council of Macau Ho Iat-seng, Secretary of Economy and Finance Francis Tam, and Lionel Leong, but some later publicly rejected.[1][2] Argued that he was only 54 and none of those potential candidates were as capable as him, some claimed Ho could stage a comeback in the next election despite setting an unfavourable precedent.[3]
Campaign
[edit]On 12 May 2009 Fernando Chui announced his election campaign,[4] under the slogan of "people-oriented, preservation and innovation, building harmony" revealed on 25 May,[5][6] focusing on focused on four main issues: handling post-Financial Crisis economy, improving living quality, advocating diversified economy, and reforming governance.[7]
Chui resigned Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture on 13 May and accepted by the Chinese Government a day later. The Chief Executive succeeded as the acting Secretary.[8] Chui submitted his 286 nominations on 16 June, and became the sole candidate of this election.[9]
Candidates
[edit]Nominees
[edit]Expressed interest
[edit]Four individuals publicly expressed interest for running in the election, namely 李光遠, 吳銳源, 呂子育, and 劉順蓮. None reached the 50 nominations threshold as Chui secured 286 nominations amongst 300 Election Committee members.[10]
Declined
[edit]- Ho Chio-meng, Procurator General[11]
- Ho Iat-seng, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, member of the Executive Council[12]
Results
[edit]On 26 July 2009, Fernando Chui Sai-on was elected with 95% of electoral votes. Despite being nominated by 286 members, Chui only won 282 votes after 14 voted abstention and 4 did not vote, including pro-democracy José Pereira Coutinho despite his attendance in the poll station.[13]
The election result was ratified on 28 July 2009 by the Court of Final Appeal.[14][15]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernando Chui | Independent | 282 | 100.00 | |
| Total | 282 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 282 | 95.27 | ||
| Invalid votes | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Blank votes | 14 | 4.73 | ||
| Total votes | 296 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 300 | 98.67 | ||
| Source: Electoral Affairs Commission | ||||
Criticism
[edit]Criticisms surrounding Chui and the election tangled throughout the whole campaign, including collision between government and businessmen.
Undemocratic election
[edit]Pro-democracy legislator Antonio Ng sarcastically praised the election for being perfect in "small-circle", referring to the limited electorates.[16] He said if Ho Chio-meng ran in the election, it could in fact bring illusions of public opinion having a say in elections.[11]
Pro-democracy camp continued their objection towards the stalling of democratisation,[17] called for universal suffrage of Chief Executive elections.[18] New Macau Association, who held two seats in Election Committee as ex-officio members, stated they would not vote in the election in protest to the unfair selection of the committee.[19][20]
Some also claimed the contact information of Election Committee members were not publicised, causing unjustness to those who were interested in joining the race.[10]
Media-related
[edit]Apple Daily from Hong Kong reported that electorates took photos in front of polling station, while some being suspected of leaking voting intention before submitting their votes. The newspaper described the whole election process as "lax".[21]
Ming Pao and Hong Kong Economic Journal received letters from Macau with blades attached, objecting to businessman holding the top office of Macau.[22][23][24]
Abstention votes
[edit]Billionaire Stanley Ho criticised those casting empty ballots as "making a very wrong mistake".[18] Pro-Beijing newspaper Journal San Wa Ou editor-in-chief 林昶 condemned Coutinho with the idiom "being a whore while trying to secure virginity" for publicly boycotting the election.[25]
References
[edit]- ^ "政壇八達通︰港澳特首人選倒模一樣". 蘋果日報. 2009-01-09. Archived from the original on 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "下任澳特首三熱門兩黑馬". 星島日報. 2009-04-06.[dead link]
- ^ "京澳吹風何厚鏵隔屆重出". Oriental Daily. 2007-04-02.
- ^ "崔世安參選特首". 澳門日報. 2009-05-13. Archived from the original on 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "崔世安：倘當選力建廉政". 澳門日報. 2009-05-26. Archived from the original on 2009-05-29. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "崔世安參選宣言 傳承創新 共建和諧". 澳門日報. 2009-05-26. Archived from the original on 2009-05-29. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ 《崔世安參選政網》. 崔世安競選辦公室. July 2009.
- ^ "國務院批准崔世安辭職 特首發表聲明讚崔在任工作卓有成效". Macau Daily. 2009-05-15.
- ^ "參選特首獲286選委提名 崔世安成唯一候選人". 澳門日報. 2009-06-17.
- ^ a b "澳門選特首 崔世安穩獲50提名 崔世安參選 將致力廉政建設". 大公報. 2009-06-02. Archived from the original on 2009-07-01. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ a b "何超明宣佈不參選澳門特首". 蘋果日報. 2009-06-12. Archived from the original on 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
- ^ "賀一誠重申不參選澳門特首". 大公報. 2009-03-23. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "崔世安高票當選澳門特首". 東方日報. 2009-07-27.
- ^ "終審法院公告：澳門特別行政區行政長官選舉結果". 澳門政府公報 (第31期第一組). 2009-08-03. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- ^ "將刊特區公報 提請中央任命 終院確認特首選舉結果". 澳門日報. 2009-07-29.
- ^ "崔世安當選影響立法會選舉". 《亞洲周刊》 (23卷31期). 2009-08-09.
- ^ "崔世安政綱不提普選". 蘋果日報. 2009-07-12.
- ^ a b "六點半新聞報道]". MyTV News. 2009-07-26. 電視廣播有限公司. 翡翠台.
- ^ "促進民主 面對新情況、新問題 新澳門學社致函行政長官". 《新澳門》 (36). 新澳門學社. 2008-03-31.
- ^ "吳國昌與新澳門學社重申立場 不參與行政長官選委會". 華僑報. 2009-01-20. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "投票很兒戲 選委隨意拍照". 蘋果日報. 2009-07-27.
- ^ "《信報》收到刀片信". 信報. 2009-05-30.
- ^ "反家族商人治澳 刀片信寄《明報》". 加東版. 明報. 2009-05-26.[dead link]
- ^ "反家族商人治澳 刀片信寄《明報》 揚言「自殺式抗議」". 明報. 2009-05-26.
- ^ "一齣既要立牌坊又要做婊子的拙劣戲碼". 新華澳報. 2009-07-30.[dead link]
