Former secretary for social affairs and culture of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Chui Sai On Tuesday submitted his candidacy and application form, as he dominantly bagged 286 nominations from the 300-member SAR chief executive (CE) election panel.

Under the SAR's CE Election Law, anyone who intends to run for the CE office must be nominated by 50 of the 300 members of the CE Election Committee, within which the new CE will be elected. Giventhe rest of the committee members do not meet the basic nomination number required by the law, Chui will become the only CE candidate.

Chui went to the CE election coordination center this afternoon and submitted his candidacy and application form to the authorities. He told the press at the center that he appreciated the support from the committee members and the civilians, promising that he will make all-out effort to run for the CE office, while collecting more civilian opinions.

So far Chui was the only person in the SAR who claimed to garner enough nominations for his candidacy. Macao's Public Prosecutor Ho Chio Meng has denied rumors that he will run for the SAR's top job, according to the Macao Daily News.

The deadline for the submission of candidacy and application form is June 23, and the CE election will take place in July 26.

The official list of the CE candidates will be announced on July 2, according to the CE Electoral Affairs Committee, which oversees the upcoming CE election.

(Xinhua News Agency June 17, 2009)