I say: “Like Tharman, if Halimah Yacob is not part of the solution, she is part of the problem.”
My friend Teo Soh Lung wrote a measured and upbeat assessment of Halimah Yacob, and rated highly her chance of winning the Presidential Election even if it was not “reserved”.
Soh lung said:
“If the government did not amend the laws, Madam Halimah Yacob would have been spared the many indignities, insults and unjust criticisms now levelled against her. The high office of the president would not have been so demeaned.
I have high regard for Madam Halimah Yacob. At the nomination centre in 2011, we shook hands and had a conversation. I was a SDP candidate for Yuhua and she was the PAP candidate for Jurong GRC. ”
My response:
Halimah may be the most virtuous lady politician in the PAP fold, but that is not the point. We have a political system which is calibrated and fine-tuned to serve the Dominant Party, and the entire electoral system, from the legislature, to the Presidency, is gerrymandered to ensure the PAP remains in perpetuity as a national institution.
Isn’t the fiction of calling the current President the 5th elected President part of the grand gerrymandering to prevent challenge from potential challengers?
And returning to the first principle, the ridiculous threshold for eligibility for Presidential Candidacy is based on Management of a company worth over $500 million is an affront to democratic principles.
And turning legislators to managers of local authority is yet another scheme undermining the essence of democratic government.
If Halimah has any democratic credentials, she should rise above it to make a difference.
Like Tharman, if she is not part of the solution, she is part of the problem.
Source: Tan Wah-Piow
