Another political outsider joins Chief Executive race

Choi Teng Teng, a local ‘grassroots’ woman who says she supports democracy and dreams of becoming Chief Executive, visited the administration building yesterday to express her interest in running in the fifth Chief Executive Election.

With Choi joining the race, there are now four people in total who have revealed their intention to run for the position.

Choi, who claims to be an ordinary citizen of Macau, submitted her application form yesterday to formally apply for the election.

While being interviewed by the media, Choi repeated several times that Song Man Lei, chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, said all Macau residents can run for this year’s Chief Executive election.

According to Choi, she considered whether she should run for Chief Executive for over a month before deciding that she “must run for it.” 

Choi’s platform is “fighting for democracy, freedom, cracking down [on] corruption, and pursuing fairness and equity.”

In addition to self-described grassroots candidate Choi, local businessman Leong Kuok Chao, veteran protester Hoi Weng Chong and Legislative Assembly president Ho Iat Seng are also interested in the top job.

Ho is widely viewed as the most likely to win the election.

Not much is known about the second declared candidate, Leong Kuok Chao, who has been out of the public eye for more than a decade, and has a light digital footprint.

In 2005, Leong ran for the legislative elections in a list named Macau Association for Democracy and Social Welfare (ADBSM) lead by Wong Cheong Nam – a former lawmaker and ally of late Alexandre Ho – which earned 4,358 popular votes, but failed election.

Leong, aged 45, is currently the director of an investment consultancy company.

The third candidate, Hoi Weng Chong, is a well-known protester best known for his outrageous street presence. He was formerly a newspaper publisher, but is also known for working for an insurance company.

It is not clear whether any of Ho Iat Seng’s three rivals, who are all outsiders to Macau’s so- called ‘small-circle’ politics, can muster the 66 minimum nominations needed to be confirmed as a candidate. The last time a Chief Executive election had more than a single candidate was Macau’s first, in May 1999, in which Edmund Ho emerged victorious.

When asked whether she is confident she will gain the necessary support from 66 members of the Electoral Committee, Choi said that she is confident she can muster their votes.

“I must defeat the corrupted officials,” said Choi, who claimed that many people from the commercial and labor sectors support her. However, she did not indicate any specific names, only saying that “they know me, but I don’t know them.”

Choi previously worked for the clothing and construction sectors but she has not worked since becoming sick. Currently, she is a volunteer and has four children at home.

According to a report by Exmoo, Choi served four years in prison for fraud. Choi did not provide any further information on her past and only stated that she was running for CE to seek justice and fight against corruption.

Gov’t sets CE election for August 25

The government announced in the official gazette published yesterday that the date for the Chief Executive Election will be August 25, as previously reported by Radio Macau but dismissed by the Electoral Affairs Commission on Sunday.

Candidates are not allowed to spend more than MOP6.44 million on their election campaign, according to the information published yesterday.

On Sunday, 370 of the 400 voters entitled to choose the next head of government were chosen. The Electoral Affairs Commission held a dedicated election to pick 344 people representing the business and financial sector, the cultural sector, the education sector, the professional sector, the sports sector, the labor sector and the social services sector.

Also on Sunday, a reporter asked President Song Man Lei of the Electoral Affairs Commission to validate reports of the August 25 election date. In response, Song said that the Commission had not yet received any date, which is to be deemed only by the incumbent Chief Executive, Chui Sai On.

Macau members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference held their own election to determine which 14 voters would represent their sector.

The other 12 voters are the Macau representatives of the National People’s Congress.

The remaining undetermined voters represent the religious sector, the municipal body and the legislature. Staff reporter