Category: Politik

The Next President, Hopefully Female, Likely Malay, Will Be Served By An All-Men Council Of Advisers

In 1991, Parliament passed a Bill to amend the Constitution of Singapore to change Singapore’s presidency to an Elected Presidency.

The Elected President (EP) was given new discretionary powers to safeguard Singapore’s past reserves and to appoint key personnel in government organisations.

One of the less prominent aspects of turning the President’s office into an elected office in 1991 was the creation of the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA).

What does the CPA do?

Currently comprising of six members and two alternate members, the CPA’s role is to advise EP, particularly regarding the use of his/her discretionary veto powers.

Following the recent legislation in November to amend the Constitution regarding the EP, there will be eight members of the CPA in future.

As the CPA is unelected, its powers to act is constrained. For instance, it does not have the power to block the EP.

The chairman of the CPA also plays an additional role as Acting President whenever the EP is unavailable.

When current President Tony Tan was away on a State Visit to Japan recently (Nov. 28 to Dec. 6), the current CPA chairman, J Y Pillay, stood in for Tan as Acting President.

As Acting President, Pillay hosted Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi when she came to Singapore on a three-day visit in late November.

In the event that the both the EP and CPA chairman are unavailable, the Speaker of Parliament stands in as Acting President.

How is the CPA formed?

The eight members of the CPA are appointed in the following ways:

– EP nominates three members.
– Prime Minister (PM) nominates three members.
– Chief Justice (CJ) nominates one member
– Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC) nominates one member

CPA members are initially appointed on a six-year term, and are eligible to be re-appointed on subsequent six-year terms.

Under the Constitution, a CPA member must:
a) be a Singapore citizen who is at least 35 years old;
b) be resident in Singapore; and
c) not be subject to certain disqualifications.

Powers of CPA were recently strengthened

Besides the increase in the number of members in the CPA, the powers of the CPA have also been strengthened.

The next EP would be required to consult the CPA before exercising his/her discretion in respect of all fiscal matters touching on Singapore’s reserves and all public service appointments.

This is not the case at present.

The EP’s decision would be subject to Parliamentary override (by simple majority) where he acts against the CPA’s advice.

However, if the EP was to act with the support of an absolute majority of the CPA, Parliament should not be able to override the President’s decision.

Source: http://mothership.sg

December 19, 2016
Heng Swee Keat Coy On Succession

His name has often surfaced as a front runner to take over when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong steps down. So when Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat had a stroke, it inevitably stoked discussion about his role in the future leadership team.

During an interview last Tuesday, Mr Heng declined to discuss who would lead Singapore next.

“That is a hypothetical question. I will not go into that,” he said when asked if he would accept the position if picked.

He, however, suggested that steering Singapore is about teamwork.

“A lot of it is really to make sure that we all pitch in and we all support one another, not just the fourth-generation leaders among ourselves, but also with all fellow members of the Cabinet and with the broader institutions in Singapore,” he said.

Succession planning took on a renewed urgency after PM Lee repeated several times his plans to retire some time after the next general election, which must be held by April 2021. Concerns were raised when Mr Heng had a stroke in May and PM Lee almost fainted when delivering this year’s National Day Rally speech in August.

Mr Heng said the younger ministers have been getting their feet wet in the various ministries they have been rotated through, part of the preparation to take over. “I think they have all done well.”

Mr Heng himself held the education portfolio before his current appointment, and was also put in charge of key assignments such as the 2013 feedback exercise Our Singapore Conversation, the SG50 celebrations last year, and the Committee on the Future Economy, tasked to come up with strategies to prepare the workforce and economy for upcoming challenges.

“It’s not just about your individual work, but it is how we connect with Singaporeans and how we do the right things to make sure we have the right policies that will enable us to navigate to a better future,” he said.

In the ruling People’s Action Party, each generation decides among itself who will lead its team. Both prime ministers after the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew – Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and PM Lee – had taken on the premiership with the support of their peers.

PM Lee said as much when he pointed out that the fourth prime minister will be chosen the same way. Just three years after taking over, he had said he would not anoint his successor.

Besides Mr Heng, others identified as core members of the next team include Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and labour chief Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng, Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin and Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong.

Asked if the team had started discussing who should be PM, Mr Heng was tight-lipped. Breaking into a slight smile, he said firmly: “I shall not veer into this.” But ultimately, he said, what matters is the trust and confidence Singaporeans have in the team that will lead the country. “If we are united and cohesive and have a sense of direction, we can get there.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 18, 2016
Son of Osama Bin Laden Banned From Entering Egypt

CAIRO – Osama bin Laden’s son Omar was refused entry to Egypt on Saturday, airport sources said, giving no reason why his name was on a list of people banned from the country.

Omar, 34, Osama bin Laden’s fourth-eldest son, was traveling with his British wife Zaina al Sabah from Doha, and they asked to be sent to Turkey, the sources said.

The couple, who lived in Egypt for several months in 2007 and 2008, were previously denied entry to the country in 2008.

Omar bin Laden broke with his father in 2001 after living in Afghanistan for much of 1996 to 2001.

In an interview with Reuters in 2010, Omar said he was working with Saudi Arabia and Iran to end his separation from a group of brothers and sisters that dates back to the chaos in Afghanistan following the al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Omar said bin Laden’s children were trying to be “good citizens of the world” but suffered from the lack of a father and the stigma of being the al Qaeda leader’s children. None were part of al Qaeda, he said at the time.

“We are working with the Iranian government and with the Saudi government at the moment to have my mother’s children and grandchildren join us,” he said.

Osama bin Laden was killed at his Pakistani hideout by U.S. commandos in 2011 in a major blow to the militant group which carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.

Source: www.todayonline.com

December 18, 2016
Protesters Condemn International Inaction In Aleppo

BERLIN (AFP) – Protesters rallied in Berlin on Saturday (Dec 17) against the war in Syria denouncing the international community for failing to help civilians, especially children, in the besieged city of Aleppo.

Holding banners saying “The children of Aleppo are calling you!”, or “Aleppo is bleeding and the world is watching”, around 900 people braved plunging temperatures to gather in front to the Reichstag, the German parliament building, according to police estimates.

At the same time, another 1,800 people joined a second demonstration elsewhere in the German capital, police said.

“What is happening there amounts to what is the worst in the world,” said Mahmoud Almizeh, a 19-year-old Syrian refugee who comes from Raqa, now the bastion of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militant group.

Germany has opened its doors to some 600,000 Syrian refugees since the conflict began in 2011.

Having arrived in Germany a year ago, Almizeh lamented that European leaders were “unfortunately doing nothing”.

In Aleppo on Saturday, trapped Syrian civilians and rebels waited desperately for evacuations to resume from an opposition-held enclave of the city which has fallen to the brutal onslaught by Syrian government forces.

Aleppo has been ravaged by some of the worst violence of the nearly six-year war that has killed more than 310,000 people.

“We feel so powerless” about the tragedy facing the Syrians, said Anna Bone, a Berlin resident at the demonstration where another banner declared: “Stop murdering! Peace talks NOW.”

“This powerlessness… this grief, it’s what brought me here today,” she added.

Hundreds of protestors also joined demonstrations in France on Saturday in the cities of Paris, Lille, Strasbourg and Marseille.

“It’s crazy that the world powers cannot intervene,” commented two protesters of Turkish origin, Hilal, 25, and Gulsan, 26, in Paris.

Thousands of trapped civilians and the last remaining opposition fighters in Aleppo were waiting for evacuations to resume on Saturday, a day after the operation was suspended by the Syrian government.

Meanwhile, in New York, the UN Security Council could vote as early as this weekend on a French-drafted proposal to allow international observers into Aleppo and ensure urgent aid deliveries.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 18, 2016
Lee Hsien Loong And South China Sea – “Roared Like A Tiger, But Now Quiet As A Mouse”

By: Tan Jee Say

1. In July 2016, when the Hague tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines but against some of China’s claims in the South China Sea, PM Lee loudly and vehemently urged China to abide by the ruling, adding that only when countries respect international rules, will small nations have a chance to survive in a global world.

2. Many events have happened in the months following the Hague tribunal. US President-elect Trump had spoken on the SCS. China had flown a nuclear bomber over the SCS. But PM Lee has remained silent.

3. Staying quiet or making neutral remarks softly, is the right thing to do for a small nation who is not a claimant in the disputed territories. Otherwise we may provoke hostile reactions from parties directly involved in the dispute.

4. But after roaring on the scene like a tiger and then suddenly turning quiet as a mouse 5 months later, what does this episode tell us about the leadership of PM Lee who has said ad infinitum that Singapore requires exceptional leadership to survive. What has PM Lee shown us about his tiger-turned-mouse leadership? This reminds me of the famous line in the popular beer advertisement, “Give that man a Tiger”. Yes we want a tiger, a real tiger, not a paper tiger.

5. This tiger-turned-mouse analogy is inspired by PM Lee’s castigation of WP’s performance , “You voted for a tiger in the chamber and you got a mouse in the House” (1 September 2015). Colourful imagery, PM. Now look at yourself in the mirror.

Source: https://thesgdaily.com

December 17, 2016