Publication: The Straits Times, p A42&A43 Date: 6 August 2011 Headline: Presidential poll: How the debate is shaping up

Presidential poll: How the debate

On Aug 27, Singaporeans nouncing his bid, began putting out state-

head to the polls for the ments on what he intended to do if elect- ed.

second time this year. But ~r an said, among other things, that in the --up to the he was in favour of a conservative invest-

May general election when ment approach among Singapore's sover- eign wealth funds and that he would "use

bread-and-butter issues the influence of the president's officen to were the hot topics,. public b~a ;~ , " t~~~&;~ ;pe~dn t s dmeW Strong discourse is now bemg rebuffs from the establishment, with the dominated by matters that current and former law ministers coming are distinctly more out to contradict him.

philosophical. MI K. Shanmugam, Law and Foreign Minister, emphasised that the president had no role to advance his own policy

2 011 will go down in Singapore's political history as a year of records.

For the first time since inde- pendence, two nationwide elec-

tions are being conducted in the same year.

The general election in May drew a lev- el of passion not seen in many years, with even People's Action Party (PAP) MPs ac- knowledging that there had been a turn- ing of tides of sorts. The opposition made significant advances and the electorate participated in the hustings with unprece- dented fewour.

This month, Singapore will hold that other poll - to choose her head of state.

Even this, the election that many had predicted would be a staid non-event, looks like it may set some hearts racing af- ter all.

Five serious challeng- ers have entered the ,,,, . ,

agenda - "whether they concern security and defence, immigration and popula- tion, or housing and social safety nets". He also had no right to direct the strate- gies of Temasek Holdinrrs and the Govern- hent of Singapore 1nGstment Corpora- tion (GIC).

That was early tune. Since then, Mr Tan has shifted his fo-

cus to what he intends to say as presi- dent. He wants to act as "a voice of the people", and will provide the Govern- ment with feedback on issues that affect many Singaporeans, including cost of liv- ing, transport or housing.

Pressed by reporters on whether he in- tended to speak out publicly or privately, Mr Tan said he would "recognise" a poli- cy problem in public and discuss solu- tions with Cabinet ministers in private.

"The elected president can play a use- ful role in being an additional channel for the people to raise legitimate issues to the Government and can, through the influ- ence of his office, encourage an open and non-partisan approach to solve them," he wrote in a letter to The Straits Times' Forum page just this week.

Willingly or not, other presidential hopefuls have been drawn into the debate.

fray, compared to two, one and one in the last three campaigns. The po- tential candidates also ap- pear to be pulling no punches, raising issues - and stakes - and making promises in demonstra- tion of their seriousness.

On Aug 27, Singapore- ans will decide whom to

Without a doubt, the

been spilt is that of what the president

Former PAP back- bencher Tan Cheng Bock took a more moderate stand.

He argued, on the one hand, that the president was not caged, but insist- ed, on the other, that he would "bring the peo- ple's concerns to the Government through

entrust with the highest can do or S office of the land, and, along with it, the second key to the nation's past reserves.

But first, the battle of ideas. Already, several issues, old and new,

have emerged in the race. What exactly is the role and scope of

the elected presidency, a constitutional experiment that began just 20 years ago?

How many candidates will the Presi- dential Elections Committee (PEC) let through - and what are the consequences of the committee's decision?

And might we wer see another ethnic minority elected president?

;a y . proper channels, without confrontation in public, as it is wrong to expect

the presidency to be a centre of power on day- to-day politics".

Former deputy prime minister Tony Tan, seen by many as the current front runner in the race, appeared to favour ret- icence most.

He said in the press conference an- nouncing his bid: "1 don't think that it is the job of the presidential candidate to ex- press contradictory views for the sake of just being different. I don't think that is likely to advance the future of Singapore and Singaporeans."

Some of these questions, to be sure, will continue to be asked in the foreseea- ble future. Others will, perhaps, be set- tled in the course of this year's contest.

But of one thing we can be certain: it is by virtue of the election campaign that these debates are happening - to the ben- efit of our political system, some argue.

Limits on word and deed WITHOUT a doubt, the issue over which most ink has been spilt is that of what the president can do or say.

The debate seems to have been trig- gered by former NTUC Income chief exec- utive Tan Kin Lian, who, shortly after an-

Mismatched expectations MANY netizens weighed in on this issue in favour of Mr Tan Kin Man, urging him and other candidates to shape the presi- dency into a more interventionist one. Be- ing directly elected, the president had the mandate of all Singaporeans and could therefore speak freely, so one line of their argument went.

Associate Professor Hussin Mutalib of the National University of Singapore (NUS) called this a "mismatch of expecta- tions" between the Government and the public on the exact role of the elected president.

He said that in the aftermath of the

general election, the ground appeared to be shifting in favour of additional roles for the elected president.

Most legal scholars and political aria- lysts who spoke to Insight agreed that a president who openly criticised the Gov- ernment and its national policies outside his areas of discretionary powers would likely be violating the spirit of the Consti- tution.

However, some also conceded that there were grey areas - cases in which speaking out, even publicly, may be met with acceptance.

Assistant Professor Wan Wai Yee of the Singapore Management University ex- plained that Singapore's political system essentially remained a Westminster one, where the president has very limited dis- cretionary powers.

The constitutional amendments of 1991 made the presidency an elected of- fice. It gave custodial powers to the elect- ed president in five areas: past reserves, key appointments, Internal Security Act detentions, Maintenance of Religious Har- mony Act restraining orders, and Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau investiga- tions.

But outside these five areas, his role was exactly the same as that of the pre-1991 president, who was elected by Parliament. That meant the elected presi- dent still had to act on the advice of the Cabinet, as clearly stated in the Constitu- tion, she said.

"The fact that he is directly elected by the people does not miraculously confer

on him additional powers," she added. Constitutional law expert Kevin Tan

added that while the Cabinet's "advice" may not be actively provided in each in- stance, the spirit of the law is that the president should not publicly contradict stated government policy.

Furthermore, there is danger in ex- panding the president's role into a third centre of power, after the Cabinet and Parliament, argued Institute of Southeast Asian Studies direct0r.K. Kesavapany.

"There is a risk of diluting the capacity of the Cabinet to make decisions for the governing of the country. We could end up with utter confusion," he said.

Grey areas WHERE, then, rmght one fmd grey areas on this issue?

Professor Walter Woon of NUS cited one. On moral issues, most people would understand if the president spoke his mind outside his areas of discretion, he said.

He offered a hypothetical scenario: the Cabinet grants clemency to a criminal who is a political ally of the d i n g party. Under the Constitution, the president is legally bound to sign the clemency.

"But there's no reason why he can't sign under protest. He could say to S i - poreans, '1 sign because this is my consti- tutional role. But 1 do not agree. This is wrong,'" he said.

Another possibility was for the presi- dent to lend his prestige to underdog caus-

es that had not been overly politicised. such as environmentalism, ageing issues and a more equal role for women in socie- ty, said Dr Lam Peng Er, editor of Manag- ing Political Change In Singapore: The Elected Presidency.

"He could act as a patron for civil soci- ety groups championing these causes and speak on the issues generally, thereby rais- ing awareness of them," he said.

A third grey area would be the presi- dent criticising a bad investment decision on the part of Temasek Holdings or GlC, said Dr Kevin Tan.

While he does not, on paper, have the power to direct these investment compa- nies, his role as custodian of the reserves may lend him some weight when com- menting on them, he said.

But the president has to tread careful- ly. The Constitution allows for his remov- al on the grounds of "intentional viola- tion of the Constitution". This requires a three-quarters majority vote in Parlia- ment after a Supreme Court tribunal rec- ommendation.

Parliament may also make changes to the president's constitutional powers with a two-thirds majority.

The crux of the "grey areas" issue seems to be whether one sees the Consti- tution as a "living" document, the inter- pretation of which is shaped by shifting societal perceptions, or if it is a "static" document that has to be understood in

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'Y L SMU

Many

Publication: The Straits Times, p A42&A43 Date: 6 August 2011 Headline: Presidential poll: How the debate is shaping up

the way the original framers meant it and can only be amended by Parliament and interpreted by the Supreme Court, said those interviewed. On this, scholars who spoke to Insight were divided.

A battle of ideas FOR some, the discussion on what the president should or should not say seems rather academic.

Political observer Ho Kwon Ping, for example, said that in the eyes of a realist like him, "the train has left the stationn on that debate.

Mr Ho argues that direct election by the entire voter population, something even the prime minister does not have to go through, accorded the president a sig- nificant amount of soft power and legiti- macy - far in excess of what he needed for the very limited role prescribed under the Constitution.

It is this tension that is behind the cla- mow, both online and among certain can- didates, for a more activist role by the president, he said.

To resolve this tension, Mr Ho favours amending the present framework so that the president is instead selected, perhaps by nominees from the Supreme Court and the Public Service Division.

The first White Paper on the elected presidency in lW8 had said the president needed to be directly elected to have the moral authority to veto a government pro- posal to spend reserves. It added that Uof- ficials who have not been directly elected, or non-elected bodies like the Presiden- tial Council for Minority Rights or the Su- preme Court, would be placed in a highly invidious position if they tried to block an elected Government".

Mr Ho also expects the presidential election to become a more Ubruising" and "ugly" affair in the future, a natural fea- ture of competitive elections, he said. He cited the online controversy over whether Dr Tony Tau's son received preferential treatment during his national service as a L'harbinger of things to come".

The unintended consequence of this,

he noted, might be that good men and women will shy away from contests.

Views that, like Mr Ho's, continue to question the funpamentals of the elected presidency are echoed somewhat over the Internet, where some respond to govern- ment statements on the president's limit- ed role with cynicism.

Racial representation CONTRIBUTING to this is another source of unhappiness with the elected presidency - that the office may no long- er be rotated among the races because the electoral process is by nature difficult to control.

Those in this camp note that all five po- tential candidates in this year's race are Chlnese - Dr Tony Tan, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Mr Tan Kin Lian, investment advis- er Tan Jee Say and former JTC Corp chief financial officer Andrew Kuan.

"We need a rotation of the head of state to reflect our multiracial count ry... It is time to revert the presidency to a cer- emonial one," read an anonynious post- ing on The Online Citizen last month.

Dr Kevin Tan, who is also opposed to the elected presidency for this reason, said: "We've lost that idea that regardless of how small your community is, one of you can still be head of state. That sym- bolism was very important."

Of course, all the talk about the presi- dential contest may be just that - taUt.

For if the PEC does not grant eligibility certificates to two or more candidates, the victor m y be elected by walkover -

In some ways,

>we as an even keener test of voter maturity in Singapore than the general eIection did.

the presidential : a I election may

for the third term in a row. Analysts do not expect this to happen,

given that Dr Tony Tan and Dr Tan Cheng Bock seem to be dear-cut cases. But they are waiting to see what happens with the other applicants.

In 2005, Mr Kuan did not make the cut after the PEC ruled that his experience as cbief financial officer at JTC Corp was not comparable with requirements laid down in the Constitution.

Said Prof Woon: UA contest in ZOOS would have been good. ~resihent Nathan would have won, but the fact that he wasn't challenged damaged his presiden- cy."

Prof Woon said he would like to see a more liberal s t ace by the PEC this time: "1 would say let all five go through. None of them are joke candidates."

On Mr Tan Jee Say's bid, for example, which many analysts consider among the least likely to be approved, Prof Woon said: "Jee Say's point is that he's run a fund worth more than $100 mittion invest- ing people's money and I accept that argu- ment. He would know more about the nuts and bolts of finance than, say, a non-executive chairman not involved in day-to-day management of his compa- ny."

Prof Wan of SMU believes there may be a negative response from voters if the PEC were to reject many of the candi- dates this time: UPeople like choices, af- ter all, and they may start to ask ques- tions about the transparency of the deci- sion-making of the PEC."

Exactly three weeks from today, as- suming there is more than one candidate, Singaporeans will head to the same poll- ing stations where they voted on May 7. This time, even the voters of Tanjong Pa- gar GRC will not feel left out. It promises to be a truly nationwide exercise.

In some ways, the presidential election may serve as an even keener test of voter maturity in' Singapore than the general election did.

After all, the general election featured issues that most ordinary folk could easi- ly relate to and make up their minds on - issues that affect their everyday lives, such as housing, transport and cost of liv- ing. In contrast, the issues in the presiden-

A tial race tend to be nuanced, abstract, even legalistic.

But if 2011 has indeed been a year of po- . . - litical maturation for Singaporeans, then

. . perhaps they will manage just fine.

. . . S . j ~ . e ~ l l *

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