2009 Macanese Chief Executive election

Under the Basic Law of Macau, the mini-constitution, incumbent Chief Executive Edmund Ho was ineligible to run again for the top office as he was re-elected in 2004, meaning a new leader must be selected. Rumours started floating around in 2007, suggesting various high-ranking officials will be running in the election, including Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Fernando Chui, Procurator General Ho Chio-meng, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Executive Council of Macau Ho Iat-seng, Secretary of Economy and Finance Francis Tam, and Lionel Leong, but some later publicly rejected.[1][2] Argued that he was only 54 and none of those potential candidates were as capable as him, some claimed Ho could stage a comeback in the next election despite setting an unfavourable precedent.[3]

On 12 May 2009 Fernando Chui announced his election campaign,[4] under the slogan of "people-oriented, preservation and innovation, building harmony" revealed on 25 May,[5][6] focusing on focused on four main issues: handling post-Financial Crisis economy, improving living quality, advocating diversified economy, and reforming governance.[7]

Chui resigned Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture on 13 May and accepted by the Chinese Government a day later. The Chief Executive succeeded as the acting Secretary.[8] Chui submitted his 286 nominations on 16 June, and became the sole candidate of this election.[9]

On 26 July 2009, Fernando Chui Sai-on was elected with 95% of electoral votes. Despite being nominated by 286 members, Chui only won 282 votes after 14 voted abstention and 4 did not vote, including pro-democracy José Pereira Coutinho despite his attendance in the poll station.[13]

The election result was ratified on 28 July 2009 by the Court of Final Appeal.[14][15]

Criticisms surrounding Chui and the election tangled throughout the whole campaign, including collision between government and businessmen.