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Key changes to refresh political system

SINGAPORE — In moves designed to ensure that Singapore’s political system works in the longer term, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today (Jan 27) announced a raft of proposed changes to Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP) scheme and the Elected Presidency.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaking in Parliament on 27 Jan, 2016. Photo: Channel NewsAsia

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaking in Parliament on 27 Jan, 2016. Photo: Channel NewsAsia

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SINGAPORE — In moves designed to ensure that Singapore’s political system works in the longer term, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today (Jan 27) announced a raft of proposed changes to Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP) scheme and the Elected Presidency.

Speaking on the third day of the debate on the President’s Address, Mr Lee announced that he intends to amend the Constitution during this term of Government to give NCMPs the same voting rights as elected MPs. The number of NCMPs will also effectively be increased, by raising the minimum number of Opposition MPs guaranteed by the Constitution — from nine to 12 — in each Parliament. 

The bar will also be raised for prospective presidential candidates, with a Constitutional Commission headed by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon looking at reviewing the eligibility criteria. The comission will also look at granting greater powers to the Council of Presidential Advisers and ensuring that Singapore will have a President from a minority race periodically. Recommendations are expected to be put up by the commission in the third quarter of this year. Any legislative changes that may be necessary will be tabled within this year, Mr Lee said — in time for the next Presidential Election which must be held by August 2017. 

In a speech which lasted almost one-and-a-half hours, Mr Lee also reiterated the necessity of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) scheme — to ensure minority representation in Parliament — but he pledged that the next General Election (GE) will feature more Single Member Constituencies and smaller GRCs, following the trend in recent elections. “Today, we can and must help Singapore build a political system that will give us the best shot at prosperity and progress over the next 50 years. A system that is not set in stone, a system that’s not fixed and unchangeable but one that future generations can continue to improve and adapt in order to meet their future needs,” he said. He likened the approach to that of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who believed changes to the Constitution should be custom-made — like the stretching and easing of an old shoe instead of changing to a brand new one.

Mr Lee also outlined desired outcomes of Singapore’s political system: Government that is accountable, competent and honest; an open and contestable political system; upholding a multi-racial society and the presence of stabilisers. His remarks come as several MPs voiced their thoughts on changes to the political system in recent days, following President Tony Tan’s speech on Jan 15 to open the 13th Parliament. Among other things, Dr Tan said the Government would study how to refresh the political system. 

For example, Marine Parade GRC MP Fatimah Lateef had called for the NCMP scheme to stop, while Workers’ Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC) had called for stabilisers and checks in the form of “real power centres outside the government” in the private sector, civil society and the people sector.  

The political system here cannot afford to be gridlocked or paralysed, Mr Lee warned. Mr Lee noted that with at least 30 per cent of votes against the Government in any election, ensuring a minimum of 12 opposition MPs (including NCMPs) in a House of about 100 members is “reasonable”. NCMPs will be granted full voting rights and be able to vote on items they are presently unable to. These include constitutional changes, supply Bills and votes of no confidence in the Government.

The change does not presume the Government will always have a strong majority or assume that the People’s Action Party (PAP) will always form the Government. “No ruling party or government should ever be afraid of open argument. The PAP never has been. And ultimately, Singapore will benefit from a contest of ideas in the House,” he said. With nine Nominated MPs and at least 12 Opposition MPs, this means at least 21 members in the House who will not hail from the ruling party. 

Broadly sketching changes in store for the elected presidency, Mr Lee reiterated the non-executive and non-policy-making role of the President, who is limited to custodial powers over the spending of reserves and key appointments in the public service. He said that ”regrettably” in the 2011 Presidential election, some of the four candidates campaigned as if they were going to form an alternative Government. 

Aspiring presidential candidates from the private sector must currently have experience as chairman or chief executive of a company with paid-up capital of at least S$100 million. But the criterion was set over 20 years ago, and a sum of S$100m in 1990 would be equivalent to S$158 million today. Since then, government spending and reserves have grown and the size and complexity of organisations — which include Temasek Holdings, GIC and JTC — subject to the “second key” of the President have increased vastly, Mr Lee pointed out.
Companies today with paid-up capital of S$100 million fall “well short in both size and complexity” compared to benchmark entities such as Singtel, chairman of the presidential elections committee Eddie Teo had written to Mr Lee after the 2011 Presidential Election. Mr Teo had said it was an issue the Government may wish to review.

Political watcher Woo Jun Jie of Nanyang Technological University felt the NCMP changes level the playing field for the Opposition. Following positive results for the ruling party in the recent GE, this was a sign of a re-energised PAP and, going forward, the political system will be more diverse and PAP MPs will have to work harder than they used to, he said.

But WP chief Low Thia Khiang maintained that an NCMP is different from an elected MP at his Meet-the-People’s Session last night. His party is weighing the implications of the proposals, he said. Still, he wondered they would result in more contestable politics: “On the contrary, Opposition parties may go in to run hoping to get into Parliament as NCMP. I think that’ll be ironic of the system and the Opposition — in the form of NCMP — will just be a vase, not a real functional democracy with contestable politics.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING by NG JING YNG AND TOH EE MING

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