“The office of the Elected President could be potentially crippling for a non-PAP government given the fact that a lot of the important appointments require the President’s approval,” says the Workers’ Party Secretary-General, Mr Low Thia Khiang.
Video courtesy of watchtowerv.
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If only all Youths today play less PS2 and view more of these videos and less of American pop idol.
sigh…
WP remains true to its 2006 Manifesto.
But for the President to say ¨no¨, he must be backed by at least 5 out of the 8 members of the Presidential Council.
Who decides the appointment of the 8 members? The President appoints 3 members, the Prime Minister appoints 3, the Chief Justice appoints 1 and the Chairman of the Public Service Commission appoints one.
However, the Prime Minister appoints the Chief Justice and the Chairman of the Public Service Commission.
donaldson (#3):
good point brought up. but did the president ever say no? i remember the case when our ex president ong teng cheong enquired about the usage of our reserve, but it was met with dissents.
we don’t even have the basic right to elect who we think is the best choice for President . what a joke ! every singaporeans know the truth but don’t want to talk about it lah.
poor ong teng cheong, one person against the whole bunch of papees, so why need a president for what? becos singapore needs to show the world we are a democratic country? much talk about advertisements and cosmetics.
yah.. mr ong teng cheong tried to say “no” and question PAP on certain issues.. he is 1 brave man, though he was previously a PAP member..
and becos of his bravery… PAP did not gave him a state funeral, the ONLY president in Singapore not given a state funeral..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ong_Teng_Cheong
U think if Nathan tries to question or say no to PAP, he can run his 2nd term of presidency?
PAP – u are no gentlemen..
yah.. mr ong teng cheong tried to say “no” and question PAP on certain issues.. he is 1 brave man, though he was previously a PAP member..
and becos of his bravery… PAP did not gave him a state funeral, the ONLY president in Singapore not given a state funeral..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ong_Teng_Cheong
U think if Nathan tries to question or say no to PAP, he can run his 2nd term of presidency?
U think PAP never trace to see who did Nathan vote for during the last election? If he voted for opposition u think he can still be the current president?
PAP – u are no gentlemen.
Hear hear.. If what Donaldson Tan says in post #3 is factually correct, then what is there to argue? WP is right in its analysis that the EP is redundant. Whichever party is in power, will control the majority of the Presidential Council, and therefore the EP.. which makes a mockery out of the concept of ‘checks & balances’.
I think the EP can be a real check & balance, provided the PM does not have indirect control over the appointment of the last 2 members of the Presidential Council.
Isn’t that what the WP should be objecting to, instead of the concept of the EP itself??
Hear hear.. If what Donaldson Tan says in post #3 is factually correct, then what is there to argue? M/i> – My 2Cents Worth (#9)
See the facts for yourself at:
http://www.istana.gov.sg/AboutIstana/CPA/
Clause 105, Part IX of the Singapore Constitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Justice_of_Singapore
See the facts yourself!
Council of Presidential Advisors:
Clause 37B, Part VA of the Singapore Constitution
http://www.istana.gov.sg/AboutIstana/CPA/
Appointment of the PSC Chairman:
Clause 105, Part IX of the Singapore Constitution
Appointment of the Chief Justice:
Clause 95, Part VIII of the Singapore Constitution
Anyway, I have to make a correction on my previous statement about the Council of Presidential Advisors. I said there are 8 members. At any one time should the council be in session, there are only 6 members in session. The remaining 2 are alternate members. An alternate member only sit in Council when one of members is not available or has been disqualified.
Among the 6 members in the Council of the Presidential Advisors, the President will be appoint one as Chairman. The Chairman cannot exercise his vote and he can only oversee procedural matters. In another words, there are only 5 voting members in the Council, and only 3 is needed to reject the President´s veto.
Did you see those clowns laughing at the background while Low was presenting his case against the president’s office? I don’t understand why they could be doing so. The parliamentary debate should be treated solemnly. While Low could be not that good at communicating his ideas in English…no gentlemen should be laughing when he is making his case.
jason (#7):
i was shocked when i hear this and was still skeptical when i read the wiki link. but after reading through the cross link and some search on google, i find that indeed ong teng cheong was not given a state funeral. i was young when ong took office and wasn’t really concerned about current affairs then. but to be protector of our reserve, ong has every right to ask what our reserves are. if he was not given a state burial just because the the constant bickering with the govt, this would show how petty our govt is.
donaldson (#10, 11):
thanks for all the links. it has opened up my eyes..
yah.. mr ong teng cheong tried to say “no” and question PAP on certain issues.. – Jason (#7)
The power of elected president was amended to what it is today after Mr Ong Teng Cheong stepped down as President.
Kangaroo appoints kangaroo. Can’t we have a real non-partisan human to appoint a president ?
“Did you see those clowns laughing”
What do you expect clown to do ? They are supposed to laugh at people and themselves, and that is why they are clowns albeit a very highly expensive one in Singapore. Clowns are supposed to perform comical action and jokes. MAS, Mas Selamat, Woody Pecker, Lim’s SweetSay etc and bunch of expensive clowns have entertained us and make us laugh recently, didn’t they ? Though I am disappointed that the clowns yet to change to kangaroo attire in the court.
In my view, the President (elected or not) is just a symbolic Head of the country. In actuality, he does not have any power whatsoever. Even he has to listen to the advice of the Cabinet (which indirectly means the PM) through the Council of Presidential Advisers.
The man who still holds all the power is that Old Man who refuses to retire. After making sure that all those who could counter his decisions have been safely “ousted”, “purged” or “put in cold storage”, he is enjoying absolute power. So why should he hand over such luxury to any lesser person?
At present, there is no one who dares to stand up against him. They are all just like puppets being pulled by the strings to perform to their Master’s will. This is bad for Singapore’s future, because the moment that Old Man is called to Heaven/Hell, there would be a serious power vacuum. There would be in-fighting and back-stabbing. The crocodiles, foxes and wolves in whites would be maneuvering to grab power.
They will go for the money, the reserves. The ordinary citizens would never be the wiser. As it is, there are already signs signaling to us what is to come. The recent mis-selling of toxic financial products to the ah peks and ah sohs is a case in point. Also the crafty insurance policies, the annuity, the sudden exorbitant increase of 22% in the electricity bill, the controversial hikes in ministerial pays, the rampant ERP charges and last but no least the ruthless 2% GST increase.
Those money-minded self-enriching millionaire-aspirants, who never admit any mistake and refuse to take responsibility when something happens, and refused to show transparency and accountability, are nothing but a bunch of opportunists. Just think of the rationale given to support their pay hikes: “If they are not paid market-rates, they would go to the private sector or might become corrupt”. So, if there is a war, how? Will they not pack up and run far far away?
PAP MPs who laugh at the background shoot be shot! Who do they think they are. They are there cos they are puppets of the government and get payed by the peoples money.
Beware retribution will rear its ugly head. Toatlly disgraceful. I am shocked at thier behaviour. Our President knows he is there cos of the government and not by the people. Earn as much as you can. Your days are numbered. If the people voted you will not be there. If our esteemed President Ong Teng Chong was running against you, you would stand a chance.
Its totally dsgraceful the way President Ong was treated when he died. No state funeral. What goes around comes around. Maybe we should not give any present member of our government a state funeral from now. Lets see how they feel. anyway we will celebrate their imminent departure.
It does not take a genius to know that if any opposition party won the election, the elected presidency would create a lame duck government unless a majority in parliament (which will probably have to include the PAP) agree to the budget.
At the same time, the same couldn’t be done to the PAP so long as they control a majority in parliament which can change the constitution at its desire.
In other words, if one wants to hope for an alternative govt, make sure one gives that govt a clear majority.
do our presidence have thing to do???
80something year old le…do he benefit or give solution to solve citizen problems??
and presidence should be in power!!
not PM….
becos presidence only can sit 5 to 10 year then going to change..
but the PM…always sit and control sing…
it is not right..
it like during a DYNASTY TIME>>…<<
we got to change..
http://www.malaysia.net/lists/sangkancil/2000-03/msg00183.html
interesting article on why our late ex.president ong teng cheong was being forced out of office for trying to protect our nation reserve, can’t imagine this thing happened in singapore.
Can someone enlighten me. If say the next GE happened to have opposition won 61% of the seats but with the President still on PAP side:
1. What will happened?
2. Can the opposition get ride of the PM in the first place?
3. Can they even get ride of the President?
I think there is a lot of people here interested to know. Thanks
#21) tiredsingaporean
Dear tiredsingaporean,
After going thru the articles, there was no sign of Ong Teng Cheong being forced out of the office. He himself actually insisted that he want to quit because of his wife condition.
The most, the articles only reflects that PAP will not support him for the next term. However, I think it would be a blessing if PAP did not get involved if Mr. Ong really want to run for the next term. I would say Mr. Ong loyalty is still very much intact to PAP except his idea of doing his job had stepped on the foots of the Elites.