MM Lee: Martial Law in SG if PAP is toppled
S'pore must preserve its system of govt: MM
By Peh Shing Huei
Sep 16, 2006
The Straits Times
MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew hopes the Singapore of 2046 will still
have the system it has today - one that works.
'My ambition, having created this Singapore, is to preserve the
system that produces the answers we must have as a society to
survive,' he said yesterday.
He was replying to Harvard University professor Lawrence Summers,
who asked what Mr Lee hoped Singapore would be 40 years from
now.
'My hope is that there will be a government that is equal to the
job, as the PAP was,' said Mr Lee, referring to the ruling People's
Action Party he co-founded in 1954.
'We have structured the system such that a competent group which
gets in will find a machine that works. Don't tinker with it. Run
the system properly on the basis of merit, not nepotism, and you
will always find a way out of the problem.'
'My ambition is not to preserve the PAP,' he added.
Mr Lee, who celebrates his 83rd birthday today, was speaking at the
Raffles Forum organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank
annual meetings here.
The forum organisers arranged for a chocolate cake dessert for Mr
Lee at the end of his lunchtime session, entitled Good Governance
And The Wealth Of Nations, with Prof Summers and 250 business and
political leaders.
Mr Lee outlined how politics and the system of government developed
here.
Democracy for Singapore meant adjustments to meet the country's
needs. The country was now a First World oasis and would continue
to evolve to stay relevant. It required special kinds of people to
be in charge here, he said, adding that a weak government would
spell Singapore's end.
Mr Lee mused that the problem with Singapore was that it had 'now
reached a very odd stage' - an electorate which wants the PAP in
power, but also an opposition to 'squeeze' the Government.
'Well, that's all right. But if they become the government, that's
real trouble,' he added. 'Our problem really is how to make the
electorate sufficiently wise and sophisticated to understand that
these are the limits.'
Beyond the limits, he painted two dark paths: One , which
would happen in the absence of the Elected Presidency (EP) to
protect the reserves from rogue regimes, is a military coup.
'Without the Elected President, if there's a freak result, within
two to three years the army would have to come in and stop it,' he
warned. 'And once you break that, by military intervention, you
have destroyed a system which works on the basis of who was voted
into office.'
Two, even with the EP, a corrupt government can still bankrupt the
country:
'Even with an Elected President, if they (the opposition) win a
second time, the reserves are open, because they can then arrange
for their president to be elected and the country comes to a
grinding halt,' he said.
He believes the present opposition parties, if they became the
government, would cause Singapore to collapse.
'You've seen the candidates who have turned up. If they win, this
place goes down. And nobody doubts it,' he said.
He added: 'The day we can produce an opposition of the same quality
as us, that day we are in a safer condition.'
The problem, he said, is that the opposition, unlike the PAP, has
been unable to 'induce' people of top quality to join it.
The PAP Government has also been able to stay relevant and keep
abreast of changes.
'At the end of the day, we offer what every citizen wants - a good
life, security, good health, good housing, good education and a
future for their children. That's good governance.'
The dialogue was part of the activities leading up to the IMF-World
Bank board of governors meetings next week.
At a press conference yesterday, World Bank president Paul
Wolfowitz called on rich countries to make good on promises to
increase aid to poor nations. Separately, IMF chief Rodrigo de Rato
said the meetings would implement reforms crucial to the Fund's
credibility and help strengthen political support for removing
protectionism. [email protected]m.sg
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chiu say leh????? 
