Rilek1Corner

Tag: madam president

  • Commentary: Like Tharman, If Halimah Yacob Is Not Part If The Solution, She Is Part Of The Problem

    Commentary: Like Tharman, If Halimah Yacob Is Not Part If The Solution, She Is Part Of The Problem

    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

  • Zaqy Mohamad Replaces Halimah Yacob As Adviser To Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC

    Zaqy Mohamad Replaces Halimah Yacob As Adviser To Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC

    Mr Zaqy Mohamad has been appointed as adviser to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC Grassroots Organisation, after Madam Halimah Yacob stepped down with effect from Aug 7, the People’s Association said on Tuesday (Aug 8).

    Mr Zaqy, 42, is currently adviser to Chua Chu Kang GRC GROs, but he will work concurrently with MPs from Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC – including Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong and MPs Ong Teng Koon and Alex Yam – to serve the residents there, the media release said.

     

    Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com

  • No By-Elections; Strong Indication Of PAP’s Inability To Honour Championing Of Minority Representation

    No By-Elections; Strong Indication Of PAP’s Inability To Honour Championing Of Minority Representation

    Halimah Yacob resigned today from her seat of Marsiling (red) and as the 7th Speaker of Parliament.

    Thanks to a question raised by WP MP Pritam Singh in Parliament, we now know that the Prime Minister will not call for a by-election in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC (shaded below).

    This is very worrying on two fronts.

    Firstly, this 4-member GRC is, by law, one of the GRCs reserved for Malay minority candidates presumably because of its higher Malay population. With Halimah’s departure, the GRC will have no minority MPs at all. Many of us may not agree with the mechanics or even the basis of the GRC system and may wish to see it reformed. Nonetheless, not calling for a by-election to reinstate a minority Member would speak volumes about the PAP’s commitment to playing by its own rules in its own game that is the much-vaunted GRC system.

    Secondly, the PM’s intention to appoint a Grassroots Advisor in Marsiling ward, instead of calling for a by-election, raises very unsettling questions about how the Government recognises the legitimacy and authority of elected MPs. Does this mean that Government agencies will now accord Grassroots Advisors with as much recognition as elected MPs when residents attend Meet-the-People Sessions seeking help? Does this mean that these unelected Grassroots Advisors can take on other roles that presumably only MPs can undertake? If the answer to these questions is no, then without a by-election, Marsiling-Yew Tee residents are being short-changed. If the answer is yes, it would be even worse, for this would be an admission that the Government can appoint a PAP member to be the Grassroots Advisor for Marsiling with inordinate power and authority, without a single vote having been cast for that person by Singaporeans living there. This would be unsurprising given that PAP candidates who lose in Opposition wards are immediately appointed as the Grassroots Advisors for these wards after each General Election.

    Unsurprising, but inherently unfair to voters.

    Given that we are less than half-way through the term of the present Parliament, not calling for a by-election in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC would be an affront to parliamentary democracy in Singapore, and would be a strong indication of the PAP’s inability to honour its own supposed status of being a champion of minority representation.

    Instead, we are faced with a reserved Presidential Election which harms our social fabric more than it purports to help it, because it may just entrench the idea in people’s minds that minorities are unelectable by way of their own merits alone. How does this advance our progress as a nation?

    (To find out more about how the ward-level layer was made, visit my blog at: https://mappedmusings.wordpress.com/…/mapping-our-home-mapp…. Designed with Map Box.)

     

    Source: Yudhishthra Nathan

  • Halimah Yacob Submits Letters Of Resignation As Speaker Of Parliament, MP M-YT GRC And PAP Member

    Halimah Yacob Submits Letters Of Resignation As Speaker Of Parliament, MP M-YT GRC And PAP Member

    Halimah Yacob, who confirmed on Sunday (Aug 6) that she intends to contest the upcoming Presidential Election that has been reserved for Malay candidates, submitted her letters of resignation on Monday from her roles as Speaker of Parliament and People’s Action Party Member of Parliament (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC).

    “I also tender my resignation from the People’s Action Party with immediate effect,” she said in her resignation letter to Prime Minister and Secretary-General of the PAP, Mr Lee Hsien Loong.

    She will also cease to be a member of the PAP Central Executive Committee and Chairperson of the PAP Seniors’ Group.

    She told Mr Lee that she had decided to contest the Presidential Election “after careful consideration and consultation with friends, colleagues and family members”.

    Speaking at a National Day dinner at the Marsiling Mega Sports Park, Mdm Halima had said: “I recognise that the position of the elected President has the tremendous capacity to do good for all Singaporeans and for Singapore.

    “Hence, I wish to inform you that I will be contesting in the coming Presidential Election.”

    She said on Sunday that she will ask Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to consider sending an adviser to support the work of the other Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MPs Lawrence Wong, Alex Yam and Ong Teng Koon. She also said she had asked Mr Lee to look into making “quick replacements” for the appointments she is holding.

     

    Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com

  • No By-Election If Mdm President Halimah Yacob (Minority MP) Leaves GRC, Explained Chan Chun Sing

    No By-Election If Mdm President Halimah Yacob (Minority MP) Leaves GRC, Explained Chan Chun Sing

    If a minority candidate leaves his group representation constituency (GRC), a by-election will not be called, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing said in February 2017.

    That was the response he gave to the opposition Workers’ Party’s Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC), who wanted to know what would happen if a minority member of a GRC were to step down to run for presidency.

    Mr Singh specifically used Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob as an example in his question.

    As most Singaporeans have known, Madam Halimah, the minority member of Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, has been tipped as a potential candidate for the upcoming election, which is reserved for Malays since months ago.

    Mr Chan said that when Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong explained the GRC system in Parliament decades back, he said its intent was to achieve two purposes:

    One, to ensure enough minority members in the House. This, Mr Chan said, had been achieved over the years.

    Two, to ensure no political campaign on issues of race and religion, “that we will all, regardless of party lines, campaign on the basis that we are all Singaporeans, that we will not use race, language or religion for political reasons”, Mr Chan said.

    Elected members are also expected to serve all residents, regardless of race, language and religion.

    These key goals would not be affected if one member of the GRC left, Mr Chan added.

     

    Source: http://www.straitstimes.com