This week, in an address to
Parliament, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong identified key reforms in the electoral system which he
believes would lead to greater political stability.
In
summary, he proposed to raise the
minimum number of opposition members of parliament (MPs), grant voting power to
non-constituency MPs, reduce or merge group representation constituencies while
creating more single member constituencies, review the qualifying criteria for
the elected president, and strengthen the role of the Council of Presidential
Advisors.
Lee, who
is head of the ruling People’s Action Party which has been in power since 1959
and clinched a landslide election victory last year,
said the proposed reforms “aim to strengthen the (political) system to make it
more open and contestable, to keep it accountable to the people, to go into the
next 50 years with the best chance of making a success of Singapore.”
If Lee
Hsien Loong’s proposed constitutional amendments are passed, Singapore will
have at least 21 non-ruling MPs in the next government. Furthermore, the
non-constituency MPs will finally have full voting powers on key matters of
governance such as constitutional changes, supply bills, money bills, votes of
no confidence, and also removing a president from office.
Because
of their restricted power in the current system, non-constituency MPs are
viewed by many as second class legislators. Lee said he was seeking to change
this perception by allowing more opposition voices in parliament.
“We will
be aiding the opposition, giving their best losers more exposure and very
possibly building them up for the next General Election. But I believe that in
this phase of our political development this is good for the government and
good for Singapore,” he said.
Lee also
discussed the role of the elected president. He reminded the public that “the
President is neither the Government nor is he the Opposition. He is a
custodian, he is a goalkeeper.” As stabilizer of the political system, the
president not only has ceremonial duties but
has other powers including the ability to authorize the use of the country’s
reserves.
Lee said
he believed it is time to review the criteria for choosing the country’s
president. Since the president has important decisions to make regarding the
financial situation of the entire nation and the next generation, it would make
sense for the person holding this position to have senior management competence
and experience, preferably someone who led a big company or assumed key
positions in the government or the private sector. The prime minister also
hopes to devise a mechanism where those from minority groups can be elected as
president.
But the
prime minister rejected the view of some scholars that it is better for the
parliament to appoint the
president. He insisted that the president should have the people’s mandate to
effectively exercise his or her custodial powers.
Reacting
to the prime minister’s speech, the Singapore Democratic Party demanded an overhaul
of the country’s political system.
“The
electoral system is not for the PAP to tweak and adjust. A democratic election
system requires a free media, freedom of speech and assembly, and a transparent
electoral process.”
One of
the group’s recommendations is to abolish the group representation
constituencies which they said has enabled the ruling party to draw
constituency boundaries to its advantage and to disproportionately dominate
Parliament in number.
Kishore
Mahbubani, Dean of the School of Public Policy of the National University of
Singapore has earlier written about the need to elect a president from minority
groups.
“In a
multiracial society such as ours, there is also merit in rotating the president
among the different ethnic groups,” Mahbubani said.
Since Lee
has initiated the discussion about the reforms needed to keep the political
system relevant, this should be an opportunity for political parties,
especially the opposition, to articulate their ideas on how to improve
Singapore’s democracy. It should also encourage citizen groups to gather
counterproposals from the grassroots on how to rethink Singapore’s political
institutions. By Mong Palatino
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