SINGAPORE – The coming Presidential Election (PE) will be held in September, should the office be contested by more than one candidate, as the Government announced on Monday (Feb 6) that it is moving the campaigning period of future PEs out of the month of August, to avoid clashing with National Day celebrations.
Traditionally, the full six-year terms of Singapore’s Elected Presidents expire in end-August. This means that this year, an Acting President will assume the office after Dr Tony Tan’s term expires on Aug 31, until his successor is elected.
The period during which the Acting President shall exercise the functions of the office should not exceed one month, from Sept 1 to the date of assumption of office by the new Elected President.
The Constitution provides for the Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) – a position currently held by Mr J Y Pillay – to be the Acting President. If the CPA chairman is unavailable, the Speaker of Parliament is next in line.
Speaking at the start of the debate on the Presidential Elections Bill, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing said the Government had sought the advice of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, which confirmed that the timing of the PE this year can be adjusted under current laws.
Noting that the Government will have to amend the Constitution if it wishes to extend Dr Tan’s term, Mr Chan said: “Given the slightly longer time required for the new process and to avoid holding Presidential Election campaigns during the National Day celebrations, we will adjust the timing of the polls for the forthcoming elections… this resets the clock, so that, in future, Presidential Elections campaigning will take place outside of the National Day period, assuming Presidents serve their full six-year terms.”
Last November, changes to the Elected Presidency scheme were passed into law, including instituting a mechanism that reserves an election for a particular ethnicity that has not had an elected representative for five consecutive terms. The upcoming presidential race due in August will be reserved for the Malay community.
In the previous PE held in 2011, the writ of election was issued in the first week of August, and campaigning started after National Day and carried on throughout the month. Various groups came out to publicly endorse the candidates. One of them, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, disclosed that he had declined invitations by some political parties to attend their National Day celebrations as he felt it was “inappropriate” for him to do so as a presidential hopeful.
Concerns that the keenly-contested 2011 PE was politicised were voiced during the public hearings conducted by the Constitutional Committee tasked with reviewing the Elected Presidency scheme.
NO MORE DESIGNATED RALLY SITES
Among other things, the committee had said there should be a clear distinction in campaign methods for PEs and General Elections. It noted that unlike in Parliamentary elections, candidates running for President have no policy agenda to advance. There is little need for the vigorous contest of ideas that takes place during a Parliamentary election, they noted.
Agreeing with this, the Government will no longer designate sites for candidates to hold rallies. “Campaign methods for PEs must not inflame emotions and must be in keeping with the decorum and dignity of the office of the President, given the important unifying and custodial roles of the President,” Mr Chan said. He added that rallies, “by their nature and format, may be divisive and not congruent with the unifying role of the Elected Presidency” .
Candidates may still hold rallies if they wish to, but they have to apply to police for a permit and the application will be assessed based on public order considerations.
To encourage the use of platforms and channels that “reach out to voters at a national level”, the Government will increase the amount of television airtime for candidates and it will study different options to achieve this. Details will be announced later. Candidates can continue to use social media platforms to reach voters and can also hold indoor private sessions to engage specific groups of voters, said Mr Chan.
