Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai will attend a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly (AL) in its hemicycle on Tuesday, June 16, where he will review his government’s administration and governance over the past six months, and present his government’s key tasks and policy initiatives for the second half of this year, the Government Information Bureau (GCS) announced in a statement yesterday.
During the plenary session, which will start at 3 p.m., Sam will also answer questions from lawmakers about Macau’s socioeconomic issues and various other matters concerning residents’ daily lives, according to the statement.
The statement underlined that the Q&A session to be held next month aims to foster better communication between the executive and legislative organs and enable members of the public to gain a better understanding of the government’s administration and governance.
The statement noted that the Q&A session will be broadcast live on the TV and radio channels of public broadcaster TDM.
The public can also watch the proceedings online through various platforms: the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government Portal at www.gov.mo; the Chief Executive Office’s website at www.gce.gov.mo; the Legislative Assembly’s website at www.al.gov.mo; and the Government Information Bureau’s website at www.gcs.gov.mo.
The public can also choose to view the official YouTube channels of the Chief Executive Office at www.youtube.com/c/gcegovmo or the Government Information Bureau at www.youtube.com/macaogcs, as well as the Government Information Bureau’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/macaogcs.
They can also choose to use the official mobile apps of the Chief Executive Office or the Government Information Bureau to watch the proceedings.
The proceedings will be simultaneously translated from Cantonese to Portuguese.
Sam changes customary schedules for Q&A sessions
The last time Sam attended a Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle was in November last year, when he answered legislators’ questions about his 2026 Policy Address on the day after delivering it.
In addition to the Q&A session following the presentation of the government’s policy address, customarily scheduled for November, the MSAR’s chief executive had customarily held two other Q&A sessions in the legislature’s hemicycle every year, normally scheduled for April and August, over the years. However, Sam told reporters last month that he was planning to adjust the customary schedules, but with the total number of Q&A sessions each year to remain unchanged at three (including the policy address Q&A session).
Speaking to journalists last month, Sam noted that between December and April, Macau has quite a few public holidays, including the anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland, Christmas, the Chinese New Year, Ching Ming Festival, and Easter, apart from the nation’s annual “two sessions” in March, based on which, Sam said, he concluded that it would be “too soon” to attend a Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle in April following the policy address one in November.
Consequently, Sam said at that time, he was planning to address a Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle in the middle of, or in the second half of, June with the aim of reviewing his government’s administration and governance over a period of about six months.
Sam also said at that time that he was planning to address another Q&A session with the aim of gathering opinions and suggestions from legislators concerning the government’s drafting of his policy address for next year. He did not mention the exact schedule for this Q&A session.
The nation’s two sessions refer to the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing in March. Macau has 12 deputies to the NPC and 38 CPPCC National Committee members.
Macau’s legislature has 33 members comprising, 14 directly elected by universal suffrage, 12 indirectly elected by association representatives, and seven appointed by the chief executive. The direct and indirect elections are held every four years.
This file photo taken earlier this month shows a car driving past the Legislative Assembly (AL) building, when the legislature held its Open Day. – Photo: Tony Wong
