CHINA Sam Hou Fai is the new (pro-Beijing) chief executive of Macau

He served as a magistrate for 25 years and is the first chief executive to be born in mainland China and not from local business families. The only candidate, he was elected yesterday with 394 votes out of 398 by the local electoral committee. Beijing has long been calling for Macau to develop sectors other than gaming, a challenge that Hou Fai will have to face.

Macau (/Agencies) – The former magistrate of Macau, Sam Hou Fai, was yesterday elected the new chief executive of the city. Sole candidate, 62, is the first Macau leader born in mainland China, unlike all of his predecessors, who came from business families in the former Portuguese colony.

Of the 398 members of the electoral committee, 394 voted for him (four votes were invalid), in an election that appears to have been largely manipulated by Beijing. Before the elections, Hou Fai had already obtained the support of 386 election committee members, including several influential people in the city.

The majority of people residing in Macau (about 687,000) do not have the right to vote. However, unlike Hong Kong, residents of the former colony are more comfortable with Chinese influence in the city, the only one where gambling is legal. However, Beijing is pushing for Macau to reduce its dependence on this sector, which is why tourism, traditional Chinese medicine and financial trade have begun to be promoted. Some observers have expressed skepticism about these decisions, because it will be difficult to give up gaming revenue to support Beijing’s ambitious goals. China would also like to see Macau become the commercial outpost for the exchange with Portuguese-speaking countries.

In the past, business circles have been accused of colluding with local officials, and experts believe that choosing a legal figure instead of a businesswoman could reduce their influence in local politics. It remains to be seen whether the former judge can form a government capable of addressing all the issues Beijing raises.

Sam Hou Fai, originally from Guangdong province in southern China, worked as a lawyer in mainland China after graduating from Peking University in Beijing and the University of Coimbra in Portugal. When Macau returned under Chinese rule in 1999, he was appointed the city’s chief judge, a position he held until August this year, when he resigned to take part in the elections.

Over the course of his career, he has handled some politically sensitive cases: he rejected an appeal against the police-imposed ban on commemorating the Tiananmen events, and upheld the decision to prevent pro-democracy figures from running in the 2021 legislative elections. .