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Politics of Singapore


Singapore is a republic with a Westminister system of parliamentary government, as outlined in the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore [1]. The legislative branch of government is the parliament, where members are elected by popular vote. The executive branch of government is the cabinet, which consists of ministers and is headed by a prime minister who is considered the head of government. The president is the head of state and previously exercised only ceremonial duties. As a result of constitutional changes in 1991, the president is now elected by popular vote and exercises reserve powers and powers over civil service appointments, government budgetary affairs, and internal security matters.

Contents

Voting system

Voting has been compulsory in Singapore since 1959 and there is universal suffrage. The legal voting age is 21. The Elections Department of Singapore is responsible for the planning, preparation and conduct of presidential and parliamentary elections and of any national referendum in Singapore. It is a department under the Prime Minister's Office.

Unlike the recent United States presidential elections where electronic voting was used in several states, paper ballots are still used in Singapore. However, there is a concern that voting secrecy might be compromised as ballot papers have serial numbers on them. As stated in the Elections Department website [2]:

"...ballot papers can be examined only under strict conditions, and there are safeguards that make it extremely difficult to find out how any particular voter voted. After the count, all ballot papers and their counterfoils have to be sealed in the Supreme Court vault for six months, after which all the ballot papers and other election documents are destroyed. During those six months, these documents can only be retrieved by court order. The court will issue such an order only if it is satisfied that a vote has been fraudulently cast and the result of the election may be affected as a result. Our courts have issued no such order since elections have been held here since 1948."

See also: IDEA - voter turnout since independence.

Constitution

Unlike the United States where a codified constitution exists in the form of the Constitution of the United States, Singapore has an uncodified constitution somewhat similar to the British constitution. The Singapore constitution is not all contained in a single document and there are several sources of the constitution, some being written down and some not.

The Singapore constitution guarantees the following [3]:

  1. liberty of a person
  2. prohibition of slavery and forced labour
  3. protection against retrospective criminal laws and repeated trials
  4. equal protection
  5. prohibition of banishment and freedom of movement
  6. freedom of speech, assembly and association
  7. freedom of religion
  8. right to education

However, there has been criticisms on several occasions that the government has infringed upon the fundamental liberties guaranteed by the constitution (in particular, points 5 and 6) "in the interests of public safety, peace and good order". The constitution is the supreme law of Singapore [4], and it cannot be amended without more than two-thirds of the total number of votes in a national referendum and supported by more than two-thirds of the members of parliament on the second and third reading [5].

The president may seek opinion on constitutional issues from a tribunal consisting of not less than three judges of the Supreme Court. However, no courts in the Singapore legal system can question the opinion of any tribunal or the validity of any law [6].

See also: Constitutional government

Parliament

The unicameral parliament currently consists of 94 members of parliament. The maximum term of any one parliament is five years, after which a general election must be held within three months of the dissolution of parliament.

84 of these members of parliament are elected into parliament at an election on a first-past-the-post basis and represent either single-member constituency (electoral division) or Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). In GRCs, political parties field a team of between three to six candidates. At least one candidate in the team must belong to a minority race [7]. This has led to complaints from opposition parties that they are often unable to field one, let alone three or more candidates.

The constitution also provides for the appointment of other members of parliament not voted in at an election. Up to six non-constituency members of parliament from the opposition political parties can be appointed [8]. Currently, there is one non-constituency member of parliament.

A constitutional provision for the appointment of up to nine nominated members of parliament was made in 1990 [9]. Nominated members of parliament are appointed by the president for a term of two and a half years on the recommendation of a Select Committee [10] chaired by the Speaker of Parliament and are not connected to any political parties. The current nine nominated members of parliament were sworn in in 2005.

Both non-constituency and nominated members of parliament cannot vote on the following issues:

  • amendment of the constitution
  • public funds
  • vote of no confidence in the government
  • removing the president from office

In the last parliamentary election in 2001, the incumbent People's Action Party won 82 of the 84 seats [11].

See also: Parliament

Cabinet

See also: Cabinet

President

Prior to 1991, the president was the head of state appointed by parliament and was largely a ceremonial role with some reserve powers. As a result of constitutional changes in 1991, the president is now elected to office for a six-year term by popular vote. The current president is Sellapan Rama Nathan.

The president exercises powers over the following [12]:

  • appointment of public officers
  • government budgets
  • examine government's exercise of its powers under the Internal Security Act
  • examine government's exercise of its powers under religious harmony laws
  • investigations into cases of corruption

However, the president must consult the Council of Presidential Advisers before he takes a decision on some of these matters. The council comprises of:

  • two members appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister
  • one member appointed by the president on the advice of the chief justice
  • one member appointed by the president on the advice of the chairman of the Public Service Commission

A member of the council serves a six-year term and are eligible for re-appointment for further terms of 4 years each [13].

Similar to the Speech from the Throne given by the head of states in other parliamentary systems, the president delivers the an address written by the government at the opening of parliament about what kind of policies to expect in the coming year.

See also: Istana

Judiciary

Judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court as well as surbodinate courts by the constitution. The Supreme Court consists of the Court of Appeal and the High Court. The Court of Appeal exercises appellate criminal and civil jurisdiction while the High Court exercises original and appellate criminal and civil jurisdiction. The chief justice, judges of appeal and high court judges are appointed by the president from candidates recommended by the prime minister. The prime minister must consult with the chief justice before recommending the judges.

Juries were abolished when the People's Action Party came into power and every proceeding in the High Court is heard before a single judge [14]. The Court of Appeal is Singapore's final court of appeal and the right of appeal to the Privy Council in London was abolished in April 1994. The president has the right to grant pardons on the advice of the cabinet [15].

Singapore practices the common law legal system, as opposed to the civil law legal system in the continental Europe.

See also: Laws of Singapore

Political parties

People's Action Party

The ruling political party in Singapore, re-elected continuously since 1959, is the People's Action Party, now headed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, succeeding Goh Chok Tong. Goh, now Senior Minister, succeeded Lee Kuan Yew, who served as Singapore's prime minister from independence through 1990. Since stepping down as prime minister, Lee has remained influential first as Senior Minister, now as Minister Mentor.

The People's Action Party has held the overwhelming majority of seats in parliament since 1966, when the opposition Barisan Sosialis Party (Socialist Front ), a left-wing group that split off from the People's Action Party in 1961, resigned from Parliament, leaving the People's Action Party as the sole representative party. In the general elections of 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980, the PAP won all of the seats in an expanding parliament.

The opposition

Workers' Party Secretary General J.B. Jeyaretnam became the first opposition party member of parliament in 15 years when he won a 1981 by-election. Opposition parties gained small numbers of seats in the general elections of 1984 (2 seats out of a total of 79), 1988 (1 seat of 81), 1991 (4 seats of 81) and 1997 (2 seats of 83). Meanwhile, the People's Action Party's share of the popular vote in contested seats declined from 78% in 1980 to 65% in 1997. However, the elections of 2001 saw the party's share of the popular vote climb to 75%. Since the opposition has contested less than half the seats in the last two elections, overall voter support for the People's Action Party cannot be accurately gauged.

See also: List of political parties in Singapore


References

  • Worthington, Ross. Governance in Singapore, 2002
Last updated: 05-07-2005 03:39:17
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04