Political reform proposal No. 1

last SG · 2006-08-28T13:53:36+00:00

What i propose is: In the parliamentarty election,all candidates (even thou they can be members of politcal parties)would stand as individuals and should not...

PRP SG

General election is to be in 2 stages.The first stage is to elect a government.The 2nd stage is to elect MPs.

Govt offier holders are not allowed to stand for parliamentary election but they are automatically made MPs.They have sufficient heavy responisblities and so they shouldn't be further burden with taking care of a constituency.

If you agree with my proposal,pls show your support by simply quoting my msg if u don't have any comment to make. Overwhelming support is necessary if u want to see the idea implemented.

dakkon_blackblade SG

Hhhmm…going by your logic it would be much better if we just adopt the American constitutional system, which provides for the separation of the three main powers of government – legislative, executive, and judiciary.

LazerLordz SG

That form of government has its merits and drawbacks.

I like the checks and balances part though, but I balk at having unelected Secretaries' portfolio.

pikamaster SG

elaborate... this sounds interesting...

PRP SG

I'm not thinking of copying the American system.In US,they vote for a president.My proposal is still vote for a party to form the govt.

dakkon_blackblade SG

Ok, but in your original proposal you only mentioned that it’ll be more beneficial to free the government office-holder from constituency duties. But going by this reason perhaps they shouldn’t be MPs either as that is also another layer of heavy responsibility. Are there any other rationales or potential benefits from your proposal?

PRP SG

Dakkon,
What I propose is the govt holders would be automatically made MPs but they have no constituncies to look after.They would be a group of the MPs to decide & debate parliamentary matters.

PRP SG

Under my proposal,the 1st stage would be voting for a political party or a group of people by the electorate to form a govt.Under this stage,the campaining would be on national policies & issues.

The 2nd state of parliamentary election would be held a few months ater the 1st stage of voting.It should be all single seat constituencies.All parties would have to field a certain percentage of candidates from minority races.The election wouldn't involve forming a govt.

lionnoisy SG

correct me if i am wrong.
u have to be elected as MP, only then u may be appointed
as official ,incl PM and Cabinet Ministers.

so next time AMK voters vote out LHL and he cant be
MP,and he cant be any govt official,not to say PM.

all in CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE,under Constitutional Documenst

Chapter 2 The Executive
....
Executive authority of Singapore

23. (1) The executive authority of Singapore shall be vested in the President and exercisable subject to the provisions of this Constitution by him or by the Cabinet or any Minister authorised by the Cabinet.

(2) The Legislature may by law confer executive functions on other persons.

Cabinet

24. (1) There shall be in and for Singapore a Cabinet which shall consist of the Prime Minister and such other Ministers as may be appointed in accordance with Article 25.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Cabinet shall have the general direction and control of the Government and shall be collectively responsible to Parliament.

Appointment of Prime Minister and Ministers

25. (1) The President shall appoint as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Members of Parliament, and shall, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint other Ministers from among the Members of Parliament:

2.so Sg is to elect MP first then MP's form government to run Sg.

Ito_^ SG

lets have a king and a round table of knights! Laughing

charlize SG

Don't we already have that now? Laughing

PRP SG

Lionnoisy,

I'm not talking about the present situation but a proposal which could be implemented in future.

pikamaster SG

Originally posted by lionnoisy:
correct me if i am wrong.
u have to be elected as MP, only then u may be appointed
as official ,incl PM and Cabinet Ministers.

so next time AMK voters vote out LHL and he cant be
MP,and he cant be any govt official,not to say PM.

all in [b]CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE,under Constitutional Documenst

[/b]

2.so Sg is to elect MP first then MP's form government to run Sg.[/b]

lion, I hate to say this, but you're really not being useful?

TooFree SG

Please elaborate further. However, from the abstract framework you mentioned, it certainly look pretty 'dangerous' to me especially stage 1 which might undermine our meritocracy system.

Neutral

pikamaster SG

I think you need to elaborate on why you think stage 1 will undermine our meritocratic system. In fact, I think it will enhance it. It will reduce the element of populism and make sure that leaders are only eelcted on basis of ability to plan good policies, not merely because they can exercise some "carrot" or "Stick".

the (puzzled) pikamaster

TooFree SG

You are not wrong. It just so happened that I hold exactly the opposite view of yours. No matter how a society evolve or upgrade, intellectual varies greatly among individuals. Not many can understand what is meant by good policy. And how good can it be when it has not even been tested.

The cleverer candidacy are often smart enough to bank on offering enticing carrots instead of working on sound policies or by individual merits. The candidacy can bank on fanciful yet impractical ideas with big font wordings promoting citizens' welfarism' to garner votes. This is already highly 'dangerous'. And adding on to that, though citizens' welfare are well taken care of or perhape too-well that it is cost the nation to move economically forward. Sadly, the work of economic is at play but an undeniable fact in life and everywhere, a country will have to bear the consequences of slowing down in a competitive world. Carrots and money shared a similar concept - Never enough. With the nation population waiting for carrots, how can a nation be strong to take charge in the globalisation new world and rise to the challenge from the outside world?

Neutral

pikamaster SG

what do you define as good policy? Because from your other psots in this forum, I tend to get the impression that you treat any repressive policy as a good policy. And besides, the quality of a policy, even if measured in terms of results, should not just be measured in terms of economic results. If you check academia - reputable international academia, that is, not those from IPS or PERC - there is an argument going for zero growth, since the costs of moving economically forward are just too great for any society to handle.

ANd your last line is blaming Singaporeans for carrots? I don't see the logic.

the (still quizzical) pikamaster

PRP SG

The problem you mentioned is quite true.So do you think the ppl know how to choose a good govt?

ndmmxiaomayi SG

I’m curious as to why a government should form first, then the MPs to be elected in the second stage. If you have no MPs to decide who should form the government, isn’t it as good as having no government?

PRP SG

U have a difficult nick.

The reasons are:

1. Govt office holders need not take care of constuency works,so they can have more time for their responisbilities.

2. When the whole country vote for a govt,there wouldn't be the problem of whether one is voting for an MP or a govt as ins present situation.

3. When voters voting for a govt,it would be about national issue and not about local issues.