Chief Executive (CE) Mr. Edmund Ho will complete his second and final term in 14 months, and a new CE will be selected by June or July or August of next year. Nevertheless, the eyes of the public – and those of other politicians – will be focused on the new CE candidates much earlier in the coming year. They will follow the selection process as it unfolds, paying close attention to the political background, ideology, administrative experience and governing style of each possible successor. Edmund Ho’s government will gradually adopt the role of watching and waiting, his effective governance fading from Macau’s political arena by the beginning of 2009. Who will follow him as the next CE? That becomes the most critical issue for both the Central Government and local citizens. [...]
In a few months’ time, a 300-member strong Election Committee will choose the next Chief Executive, the person who will succeed Edmund Ho at the helm of the Macau Special Administrative Region. The electoral process will be completely similar to the ones that occurred both ten and five years ago, when Mr. Ho was first elected and then re-elected. In this fundamental area of Macau’s political development, the changes have equalled zero during the first decade after the Handover. The electoral method in place is, of course, a matter of great controversy in our political landscape. Few voices dare to completely put aside universal suffrage as a solution for the future, but, while pro-democracy forces want direct elections sooner rather than later [...]
There are at least a number of similarities and differences in the political participation of the business sector in both Macau and Hong Kong. Traditionally, the business people have been politically co-opted into various advisory and consultative bodies in both places. In Macau and Hong Kong, the business elites were long appointed [...]
