http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-31/macau-s-chui-wins-in-uncontested-chief-executive-re-election.html
By Fion Li
August 31, 2014 12:22 AM EDT
Macau’s Chief Executive Fernando Chui won a second five-year term as the only candidate in an election held today.
Chui got 380 of 396 votes cast by Macau’s 400-member election committee, according to Xinhua News Agency. He garnered 282 out of 296 votes in the 2009 election. The election committee was expanded to 400 this year from the original 300. Today’s voting finished in about 25 minutes, according toHong Kong’s Cable TV.
Macau returned to China’s sovereignty in December 1999 after 442 years of Portuguese rule. The city with a population of more than 620,000 and the only place in China where casinos are legal, was granted partial autonomy in the handover, similar to that given to Hong Kong two years earlier.
“We will review the development of the gaming industry as I said in my campaign pledge,” Chui said in a speech broadcast live on Cable TV after his victory today. “We will review it as part of positioning Macau as a world-class leisure center. The government also cares about the livelihood of people here.”
Chui’s win came as casino workers at the world’s largest gambling hub protested to demand better pay while the operators face worsening labor strains for the construction of new resorts. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vow to root out corruption and money laundering is also weighing on the outlook for the city’s economy.
Casino Shares
Chui pledged in his campaign he would seek China’s approval for 24-hour immigration clearance between Macau and the province of Guangdong. He also said he planned to increase land supply for public housing and to introduce a minimum wage.
Shares of Macau casinos slumped Aug. 29 amid concerns the workers’ protest could escalate into strike actions this weekend. More than 1,000 casino employees took to the streets on Aug. 25 for a seventh time this year to demand better pay and working conditions, the largest demonstration by industry employees so far in 2014. Members from Macau Gaming Industry Frontline Workers marched through some of the city’s busiest streets and stopped at all its biggest casinos including establishments operated by Sands China Ltd. (1928),Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. (27)and SJM Holdings Ltd. (880)
More than 8,400 people in Macau have voted in an unofficial referendum on democracy, which ran Aug. 24 through noon today, according to the organizer’sofficial Facebook page. Voters were asked whether they have confidence in Chui and whether the next chief executive should be chosen by universal suffrage in 2019. Police stormed the five polling stations of the civil referendum and detained organizers on suspicion of breaching data protection laws on Aug. 24, the South China Morning Postreported Aug. 25.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fion Li in Hong Kong at fli59@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stanley James atsjames8@bloomberg.net Greg Ahlstrand,Garry Smith
