How Singapore elected a
president without a vote
Singapore (CNN) -- Singaporeans were meant to
go to the polls at the end of next week to vote for a new
president, but they'll no longer have the chance, with only one
candidate qualifying for the race.
Former Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob has emerged
victorious by default, after other presidential hopefuls fell foul
of new rules.
"I can only say that I promise to do the best that I can to
serve the people of Singapore and that doesn't change whether there
is an election or no election," she told reporters Monday.
What should be a moment of celebration -- Halimah will be
Singapore's first female president -- has proved contentious for
several reasons and appears at odds with Singapore's reputation as
a technocratic and efficient city state.
While the office of president is largely a ceremonial role in
Singapore, he or she has power to veto some of the government's
decisions, for example in fiscal matters that touch on the
country's reserves, or key appointments in the public service.
"The only beneficiaries from this reserved presidential election
are Halimah Yacob and her team, as well as Singapore's opposition,
which now has a new line of attack against the PAP (People's Action
Party). The rest of Singapore has suffered," Sudhir Vadaketh, a
Singapore author and commentator, told CNN. Halimah is loyal member
of the PAP, which dominates Singaporean government.
"All Singaporeans are unhappy that meritocracy and electoral
fairness, core Singaporean values, have been eroded to fulfill
perceived political goals."
Racial politics
In this election, for the first time, candidates to become
Singapore's president could only come from one racial group:
Malays.
It's a radical policy that would likely prove divisive elsewhere
but it's one the Southeast Asian nation said was necessary to
ensure better representation among the country's three main races:
Chinese, Indian and Malay.
"It shows we don't only talk about multi-racialism, but we talk
about it in the context of meritocracy or opportunities for
everyone, and we actually practice it," Halimah told The Straits
Times newspaper, before declaring her intention to contest the
election.
The new rules also set stricter criteria on the background of
candidates. For example, those from the private sector are required
to be a chief executive of a company, with at least $370 million in
shareholders' equity.
The two other Malay presidential hopefuls -- businessmen Salleh
Marican and Farid Khan -- failed to gain Certificates of
Eligibility from the Presidential Elections Committee on these
grounds, although the Presidential Elections Committee could have
exercised its discretion to allow them to run for the office.
Critics charge that the new rules are a way for the government
to stage-manage the election and prevent opponents from
running.
In August, Singapore's appeal court ruled against a legal
challenge to the new system by ruling party lawmaker turned critic,
Tan Cheng Bock. Tan had narrowly lost the previous presidential
election in 2011 to Tony Tan, a former deputy prime minister widely
recognized as the government-favored candidate, and planned to run
again.
Singapore's population is 74% Chinese, 13% Malay, 9% Indian and
3.2% are the ambiguously named "Others."
New rules
The announcement late Monday by the Elections Department that
only one candidate had qualified marks an underwhelming conclusion
to a controversial election carried out under changes to the
elected presidency system in Singapore voted through Parliament
earlier this year.
Specifically, the amendment states that an election will be
reserved for candidates from a particular racial group if the
previous five elections have not produced a president from that
racial group. In Singapore, it's dubbed a "hiatus-triggered
model."
"Every citizen, Chinese, Malay, Indian or some other race,
should know that someone of his community can become President, and
in fact from time to time, does become President," said Lee Hsien
Loong, Singapore's prime minister, last November before the new
rule was introduced.
Singapore hasn't had a Malay president since the country's first
President Yusof Ishak, who served as head of state from 1965 to
1970. Subsequent presidents have been from the Eurasian, Chinese
and Indian communities.
Debate
The election has also triggered debate on who is Malay and
raised questions over how an individual's race can be
determined.
Candidates were required to be assessed by a five-member
community panel to certify their race as Malay as part of the
qualifying criteria.
Halimah, who has successfully stood as a Malay candidate in
previous general elections, is reported to have an Indian
father.
Moreover, Salleh Marican also has an Indian father, while Farid
Khan's identity card lists his race as "Pakistani," the
government-controlled Straits Times reported.
What's more, critics point out that, if the goal really was to
improve racial representation and justice, more meaningful measures
could be adopted.
The Chinese form the majority in Singapore and often dominate in
positions of power and influence.
Singapore's prime minister has always been Chinese, and it was
only in 2015 that the country finally had more than one Malay
minister in the Cabinet at one time.
The Malay community typically have lower incomes and grapple
with institutional discrimination, such as in the armed forces.
"While reserving the presidential elections for only Malays is a
highly symbolic gesture, there is a need to do more for concrete
issues faced by the Malay community such as discrimination, lack of
social mobility and relative poverty," lawyer Fadli Fawzi told
CNN.
"I think that it is more important to focus on removing barriers
and improving the lot of the man on the street rather than
reserving slots for one or two individuals."
Speaking at a forum on Friday, Chan Chun Sing, a minister in the
Prime Minister's Office, acknowledged the unpopularity of the new
system, saying that it would be a "hard journey" to convince
Singaporeans that the change was necessary.
He denied accusations that the amendments were made for
political gain.
"We are prepared to pay the political price, because we think
the future of our country is much more important than any political
capital that we may have," he said.
(Plagiarised from
CNN)
