SINGAPORE: Likening the proposed changes to the Elected Presidency scheme to ballast which helps a ship maintain its stability and integrity, Deputy Minister Minister Teo Chee Hean made the case for the changes in Parliament on Monday (Nov 7).
“Our nation, like a ship, needs an optimal amount of ballast – enough to keep us stable, but not so much as to render us sluggish and unresponsive to change,” said Mr Teo, concluding a 1.5-hour speech.
“Our Presidency has always served as our maritime flag, a symbol of our unity at sea. We want to make sure that the Presidency remains a symbol Singaporeans from all communities will continue to identify with.”
The changes, according to Mr Teo, will provide stability to Singapore’s system, and also “help to avoid gridlock in situations where the President and the Government do not agree”.
Tabled in the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Bill, the changes were the result of a review process set in motion by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in January.
The changes centre on three main areas and will be debated in Parliament over this week. They are: instituting a “five-term hiatus mechanism” to ensure multi-racial representation in the Presidency; and giving more weight to the collective advice of the Council of Presidential Advisors (CPA); and updating the eligibility criteria for Presidential candidates.
MULTI-RACIAL REPRESENTATION
Under current circumstances, “there is a real concern that members of minority groups may not be elected to the Presidency for long periods”, said Mr Teo. This need to be rectified, as it “will undermine the President’s role as the symbol of our multi-racial nation”, he added.
Putting forth the “five-term hiatus” model recommended by the Constitutional Commission as a model which would achieve multi-racial representation without compromising Singapore’s meritocratic ideals, Mr Teo emphasised that the model “involves minimal intervention, and will come into play only if open elections fail to periodically return Presidents from different races”.
According to Mr Teo, if a particular racial group has not held the Presidency for the most recent five consecutive terms, the new Article 19B reserves the next election for candidates from that group. If no eligible candidate from the relevant racial group comes forward, the election becomes an open election, he said.
In the event where two or three racial groups have not held the Presidency for five or more consecutive terms, an election will first be reserved for the racial group which has had a longer hiatus from office. Mr Teo added: “If no eligible candidates come forward, then the election becomes reserved for the racial group with the next longest hiatus, and so on. This continues until the election eventually becomes an open election.”
The establishment of the committees and procedures to decide whether a person belongs to one of the three racial groups will be provided for by way of legislation, said Mr Teo, adding that this approach “has proven to be capable of handling situations involving persons of mixed heritage”.
STRENGTHENING THE CPA
The Bill also improves the framework of the President’s custodial powers by enhancing the role of the CPA.
A key change is to require the President to consult the CPA before exercising any discretionary power on all fiscal and appointment-related matters.
A second key change introduces two additional CPA members – one appointed one appointed by the President and another appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Other changes relate to the parliamentary overruling framework, and disclosure of the President’s and CPA’s reasons in specific instances of disagreement.
According to Mr Teo, where the President and the Government agree with each other, the CPA’s views “will not have any legal weight”. However, where the President exercises his veto, “a veto supported by the CPA should have greater finality than a veto exercised contrary to its recommendations”, he added.
Based on the proposed change, the President veto is final if he acts with the CPA’s support. However, if he exercises his veto contrary to the CPA’s recommendations, a two-third Parliamentary majority may overrule his veto.
Mr Teo added that should the President exercise his veto, he must disclose his grounds and the CPA’s recommendation to the Prime Minister. In the case where the Government wishes to overrule the veto, Mr Teo said the Government must do two things first: publish the President’s grounds in the Gazette, and send the CPA’s recommendation to the Speaker for presentation to Parliament.
For Supply Bills, should the President exercise his veto, he must publish his grounds in the Gazette, as well as send the CPA’s recommendation to the Speaker for presentation to Parliament.
CANDIDATES’ ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Pointing out that Singapore’s GDP, foreign reserves, and CPF balances have grown by six to eight times since the Elected Presidency was introduced in 1991, Mr Teo asserted the “need to update and refine the eligibility criteria” for Presidential candidates.
Currently, a person can automatically qualify for Presidential office by having held, for three years, a position: (i) in certain key public offices; (ii) as chairmen or CEOs of Fifth Schedule statutory boards; (iii) as chairmen or CEOs of companies with a paid-up capital of at least S$100 million. Candidates may also qualify via a fourth track, which depends on the deliberations and judgement of the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC).
One key change being proposed to Article 19 of the Constitution is to include a “look-back” or currency period which will apply to all candidates. To ensure that each candidate’s experience and ability is “reasonably current”, any period of service a candidate relies on “must fall partly or wholly within the 20 years that immediately precede the date of the writ of election”, said Mr Teo.
A second key change is to revise the qualifying threshold to S$500 million in shareholders’ equity for private sector companies, and to S$500 million for Fifth Schedule entities. The qualifying office for candidates from the private sector and Fifth Schedule entities have also been reworded as “the most senior executive” of the entity.
In addition, there is also a mechanism to be introduced to permit increases to the minimum required amount of shareholders’ equity. This amount must be reviewed at least once every 12 years, said Mr Teo.
A third key change provides for candidates from both the public and private sectors to qualify via the deliberative track. Under both routes, two separate terms of qualifying public sector office may be aggregated for the purpose of satisfying the three-year requirement. This is subject to each of the terms falling wholly or partly within the 20-year currency period.
A fourth key change relates to the PEC. With the changes to the eligibility criteria, PEC members will have additional responsibilities, said Mr Teo. These include assessing if an applicant held the most senior executive position in a Fifth Schedule entity or private company, or if a private company has fulfilled the size, profitability and solvency requirements. This necessitates increasing the PEC by three additional members, he added.
THE ENTRENCHMENT FRAMEWORK
Currently, the entrenchment framework covering the Elected Presidency is not in operation. One reason for this, said Mr Teo, is that “the Government felt that it needed more time and experience to refine and adjust the provisions governing the Elected Presidency”. This is further complicated by the fact that the entrenched provisions were protected by a national referendum requirement.
“If the President disagreed with a proposed amendment to an entrenched provision, the amendment – however minor or process-related – may be made only with the support of a 2/3 national referendum majority. In making his decision, the President was not required to consult the CPA,” said Mr Teo.
Under the proposed changes, the referendum threshold required will be revised to a simple majority, and the entrenchment framework will be streamlined to cover only the provisions establishing the Elected Presidency and its core custodial powers.
Without committing to a timeframe, Mr Teo said the Government will consider bringing the revised entrenchment framework into force “after observing how the wide-ranging amendments in the Bill operate in practice”.
