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  • SDP On EP Walkover: PAP’s Contempt For Our Constitution And Our Flag Must Be Roundly Condemned

    SDP On EP Walkover: PAP’s Contempt For Our Constitution And Our Flag Must Be Roundly Condemned

    Singapore Democrats

    The walkover of the Presidential Election comes as no surprise. The PAP had changed the rules and revised the criteria of the Elected Presidency to pave the way for Ms Halimah Yacob to assume the office.

    Nevertheless, this is a sad day for Singapore. The rule of law has been mercilessly mocked and denigrated. The contempt the PAP has shown for our constitution and our flag which symbolises the ideals of democracy, unity and progress must be roundly condemned.

    By doing what it has done, the PAP has shown yet again that its only goal is to strengthen its grip on power. That the goal is detrimental to the interests and progress of Singapore is of secondary concern to the party.

    It is bad enough that the PAP has manipulated the system to get one if its own to become the president. That it has dangerously played the race card and divided the people to achieve this must be of grave concern to all Singaporeans.

    The SDP protests this outcome in the strongest manner possible.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • Halimah Yacob Who Is The Only Eligible PE Candidate Sparks #NotMyPresident Hashtag Across Singapore

    Halimah Yacob Who Is The Only Eligible PE Candidate Sparks #NotMyPresident Hashtag Across Singapore

    Barely minutes after former Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob was confirmed on Monday (11 September) as the only eligible candidate for this year’s Presidential Election (PE), a number of Singaporeans began using the hashtag #notmypresident in their social media posts.

    The use of the hashtag has continued to gather momentum in the past few hours, with Singaporeans expressing dissatisfaction that there would be a walkover for the PE. Polling Day for the PE, which is reserved for Malay candidates, has been set for 23 September but is unlikely to take place.

    For example on Twitter a user tweeted, “come on. only Halimah received the eligibility certificate. did you guys have to make it THAT obvious? #NOTMYPRESIDENT”. Others came up with different hashtag to show their displeasure such as #rejectPE201, #reservedforPAP and #MadamKelongPresident but the most popular remains with the #notmypresident hashtag.

     

    Rilek1Corner

  • Commentary: In A Perverse Way, The Outcome Was A ‘Fitting Finale’ To The Reserved PE2017

    Commentary: In A Perverse Way, The Outcome Was A ‘Fitting Finale’ To The Reserved PE2017

    In a perverse way, the outcome of the first Reserved Presidency, a non-event, was a fitting finale to the reserved presidential election (which has now become a non-election).

    How so?

    * The Malay community never asked for a Malay president, and now we have one. I wonder how many in the community will be jubilant.

    * A confirmation that meritocracy is not sacrosanct, and it can be disapplied selectively. We wonder when the next disapplication will be.

    * An affirmation of the perception that Malays need a crutch and will only “succeed” upon affirmative action.

    * The question that is begged to be answered is why the Community had failed to come up with a qualified candidate for the Presidency (other than Mdm Halimah)? Has the bar been set too high that it excludes others who would be willing and able to be President? Or is the community not good enough?

    * Singaporeans generally will not be pleased. Apart from the fact that other non-Malay communities have been denied the opportunity to field candidates, Singaporeans too have been denied the opportunity to cast votes, the most basic form of democracy.

    * Mdm Halimah can’t be too pleased. She would have won a presidential election which was open. She would have won a presidential election that was reserved. But she has been denied that opportunity to have the electorate’s mandate.

     

    Source: Nizam Ismail

  • Commentary: All 4 Elected Presidents So Far Are Either Ex-PAP Ministers Or From Gov’s Ranks

    Commentary: All 4 Elected Presidents So Far Are Either Ex-PAP Ministers Or From Gov’s Ranks

    So it is a walkover. Singaporeans will not need to vote for their next President. True to form; a long, iniquitous history of rigging the system. From third world to first economically, and the reverse politically–the country’s lurched from minimalist electoral democracy to illiberal democracy to sham democracy. As Andrew Loh has detailed.:

    “After JB Jeyaretnam won Anson in 1981’s by-election, they introduced the Non-constituency MP (NCMP) scheme in 1984.

    After both JB Jeyaretnam and Chiam See Tong won seats in 1984, they introduced the GRC system in 1988.

    After Low Thia Khiang won Hougang in 1991 and the SDP won 3 constituencies, they increased the size of GRCs from 3-4 to 5-6 in the 1997 GE.

    After the WP won Aljunied in 2011, they announced changes to the Town Council Act.

    After President Ong Teng Cheong became president in 1993 and questioned them about the reserves, they went back and changed the Constitutional powers of the Elected President in 1994, which allowed the govt to bypass the president’s scrutiny when statutory boards and Government companies transfer their reserves to the Government.

    And now, after Tan Cheng Bock almost won the last presidential election, they have – once again – gone back to change the Constitution, to introduce the “Reserved Election” which allows them to bar all Chinese from such an election, including someone like Dr Tan.

    And finally, while the Elected President is said to be a check on the (PAP) Government of the day, all 4 Elected Presidents so far are either ex-PAP ministers (Ong Teng Cheong, Tony Tan, Halimah Yacob, presuming she wins in September), or from the Government’s ranks (SR Nathan).

    Coincidence? Or #OwnselfCheckOwnself taken to its shameless extreme?”

    And to that I add: #reservedforPAP

     

    Source: Alfian Sa’at

  • PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WALKOVER; HALIMAH YACOB’S TITLE OF MADAM PRESIDENT NOT A MYTH

    PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WALKOVER; HALIMAH YACOB’S TITLE OF MADAM PRESIDENT NOT A MYTH

    Singaporeans will not have to vote for their new President as only one Certificate of Eligibility has been issued.

    This was announced by the Elections Department on Monday (Sep 11) in a press release reproduced below:

    Five individuals applied for a Certificate of Eligibility. Of these five individuals, three declared that they belonged to the Malay community and applied for Malay Community Certificates.

    Decisions on Certificate of Eligibility
    The PEC has decided to issue one Certificate of Eligibility.

    Decisions on Community Certificates
    The CC referred all three applications for a Malay Community Certificate to the Malay Community Sub-Committee (MCSC), and the MCSC has concluded that all three applicants belong to the Malay community. The CC will therefore issue three Malay Community Certificates.

    As this Presidential Election is reserved for the Malay community, the CC rejected the two community declarations where the declarants did not declare themselves to be a member of the Malay community.

    Individuals issued with both Certificates
    One individual will be issued with both the Certificate of Eligibility and the Malay Community Certificate.

    Notification to candidates
    The Elections Department has notified all five individuals on the outcome of their applications. Reasons were also given to the unsuccessful applicants for a Certificate of Eligibility. The PEC and the Elections Department will not, in the first instance, publish the names of the unsuccessful applicants or the reasons given to them. This is to give effect to the recommendation of the Constitutional Commission that unsuccessful applicants should not be disclosed to the public, to reduce the prospect of potential applicants being dissuaded from stepping forward to contest the elections. An unsuccessful applicant is free to publish the reasons given to him or her.

     

    Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com