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Principle of reserved contest could be extended to GE too

The passage of the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, which allows for a reserved Presidential Election for racial minorities, has set a precedent (“EP changes passed after marathon debate”; Nov 10).

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Daniel Ng Peng Keat

The passage of the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, which allows for a reserved Presidential Election for racial minorities, has set a precedent (“EP changes passed after marathon debate”; Nov 10).

Logically, this principle of a reserved contest could be extended to the General Election too.

Although the Group Representation Constituency system provides a mechanism for ensuring minority representation, it has led to the impression that some candidates may have been elected by riding on the coat-tails of the political heavyweights in their team.

An alternative is to consider converting all constituencies into single member constituencies. Based on the percentage of minorities in the population, a corresponding fraction of constituencies can then be assigned to be contested only by minority candidates.

This arrangement for the GE, as with the coming Presidential Election, may encourage more minority candidates to step forward.

With minorities representing approximately a quarter of the population, this would potentially give each constituency an opportunity to be served by a minority Member of Parliament once every four elections.

Over time, this would help engender greater trust in and appreciation of our MPs and fellow Singaporeans, regardless of their race.

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