HONG KONG, Aug. 29 Kyodo

Macao's incumbent chief executive Edmund Ho easily won a second five-year term on Sunday to run the former Portuguese colony.

Running unopposed, Ho won 296 votes in the 300-strong Election Committee comprising business leaders and other top local figures who registered to cast votes Sunday morning. He needed to obtain over half of the votes. Three members abstained from the vote while one was absent.

Ho was elected the region's first postcolonial leader when Portugal handed back the tiny gambling enclave to mainland China in December 1999.

The territory has seen a smooth political transition under his administration with sustained economic growth. Macao's casinos are the backbone of the economy.

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