Ho Iat Seng announced this Wednesday that he will not run for a next term, citing “health problems that have not yet been fully resolved, for the good of Macau’s long-term development and based on what corresponds to the best interests of this Region”. It was already possible to guess the outcome, after it was realized that it had very little support from local sectors. In recent weeks, statements by some members of the Electoral Commission signaled the beginning of a new cycle – and this one could not start with the old one. Also in the Legislative Assembly, deputies have reiterated in recent days this Government’s lack of transparency, especially in public works. In this edition, deputy Lei Leong Wong, in an interview with our newspaper, talks about this same issue, as well as all the other areas where the next Government can and should do better (see pages 5 to 7). For the member of the Legislative Assembly, and member of the Electoral Commission, the next Chief Executive must have with him people with a “sense of service”, even more than “capacity”, in order to regain the confidence of the population.
Perhaps the visit of Shi Taifeng, Minister of the United Front Department of the CPC Central Committee, was actually to communicate the final decision. That said, officially, Jorge Chiang remains the only figure to publicly announce his intention to run for office. In the Electoral Court, this candidacy will most likely not reach the 66 votes necessary to even be considered. This is because the candidate to be elected has already been chosen. Several names were considered: within the Government there was a strong possibility of succession of two secretaries; Outside the Administration there was also a name with an audience in Beijing. In the end, none of these convinced, and Sam Hou Fai became the favorite to ascend to the position. There are several sources that give our newspaper the name of the president of the Court of Final Instance – some very close to the electoral process. They say that he has already submitted his resignation, and that the announcement of his candidacy will come this weekend. Meanwhile, yesterday he confessed to being “considering” when confronted by the local press. He studied in Beijing, Coimbra and Macau, and has a long history of public service, having been president of the TUI since 1999. In addition, he holds the positions of president of the Council of Judicial Magistrates, member of the Independent Commission Responsible for Nominating Candidates for the Position of Judge, member of the Working Group on Interregional and International Judicial Cooperation and honorary president of the Macau Basic Law Dissemination Association. At 62 years old, he would be the first bilingual Chief Executive of the Macao SAR, a positive sign for the development of the bridge with Lusofonia.
It is still early to profile the new Government, with many doubts still surrounding the team of secretaries that will gather around it. There is also the confrontation with a new international situation starting on November 5th – presidential elections in the USA. The most important thing at this moment, perhaps, is to understand the reasons that led decision makers not to vote for Ho Iat Seng to continue. Errors identified during the mandate will be the first to be addressed by the new team. When it comes to the bridge with Lusofonia, the frankly superficial structure deserves review. In this and other areas, one thing is certain: only with very clear objectives can change be brought about, and only by understanding and supporting this agenda can society help make them a reality.
*Executive Director of PLATAFORMA
