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Tag: Presidential Elections

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

    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

  • US Jewish Rights Leader Vows To Register As Muslim If Trump Establishes Database On Muslims In America

    US Jewish Rights Leader Vows To Register As Muslim If Trump Establishes Database On Muslims In America

    A prominent Jewish rights leader has said he would register as a Muslim if Donald Trump sets up a Muslim database in the US.

    Jonathan Greenblatt, director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which campaigns against anti-Semitism and other bigotry, said he would register as Muslim if the database is created because of “painful memories” from when Jews were “identified, registered and tagged”.

    Speaking to AFP, Mr Greenblatt said: “The day they create a registry for Muslims is the day that I register as a Muslim because of my Jewish faith, because of my commitment to our core American values, because I want this country to be as great as it always has been.

    “As a Jewish community, we know what happens with litmus tests. We can remember. We have painful memories of when we ourselves were identified, registered and tagged.”

    Mr Trump made various calls during his campaign to ban Muslims from entering the USand indicated he would bring in “a lot of systems” to track Muslims across the country.

    Asked on MSNBC in November 2015 whether the White House should institute a database system to track Muslims in the country, Mr Trump replied: “Oh, I would certainly implement that, absolutely.”

    And when later asked whether a Muslim database would be the same thing as requiring Jews to register in Nazi Germany, Mr Trump simply said: “You tell me.”

    Since his election victory, the billionaire appears to have rowed back on some of the remarks, releasing a statement claiming he “never advocated for any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion”.

    But at least two prominent Trump supporters raised the prospect again this week.

    Carl Higbie, a high-profile supporter, claimed Japanese internment during the Second World War was a legal precedentfor a potential registry of Muslim immigrants, while Kris Kobach, believed to be a key member of the President-elect’s transition team, said the Mr Trump’s policy advisers were discussing plans to establish a registry for Muslim immigrants in the US.

    Mr Greenblatt, who previously worked in the White House as a special assistant to President Barack Obama, also criticised Mr Trump’s decision to hire Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist, who he said had “presided over making his former business Breitbart the platform for the alt-right, this loose-knit group of white supremacists, anti-Semites and racists”.

    The rights leader said ADL wanted to “engage” with Trump and his administration “on the issues they care about”, but added that they “would hold them relentlessly accountable to those issues”.

    It is not the first time the Jewish community has spoken out against Mr Trump since the billionaire business was elected. Hundreds of Jewish scholars of holocaust history signed a statement calling on Americans to “mobilise in solidarity” under a Trump presidency.

    Social media users have also reacted with anger to suggestions of a Muslim registry, with people vowing to register their details and the hashtag #IWillRegister trending on Twitter.

     

    Source: www.independent.co.uk

  • Walid J. Abdullah: World Has To Deal With Failings Of American Democracy

    Walid J. Abdullah: World Has To Deal With Failings Of American Democracy

    Perhaps 2016 will teach us not to adopt a holier-than-thou approach towards those who disagree with us. Dismissing everyone who is a Trump supporter as a racist, xenophobic idiot evidently did not work out well.

    Sure, there are racists and deplorables amongst them. But there were people with genuine concerns that were not addressed, and instead of having their sentiments understood, they were dismissed as racists. Of course they would turn to Trump afterwards!

    The media especially has blood on its hands. In spite of not being a Trump fan, i found the media coverage – particularly by Huffington Post – to be absolutely disgusting. Clearly one-sided. If i were an undecided voter, the media coverage would push me towards Trump. I hope the liberal media is proud of itself now.

    Trump has won. Whether we like it or not, those are the rules of the game. We have to deal with a President Trump.

    Unless you’re the US government (democrat or republican). Then you don’t have to respect other people’s aspirations. Just dismiss them as Islamic fundamentalists and then engineer a coup.

    For peasants like the rest of the world, we have to deal with the failings of American democracy.

     

    Source: Walid J. Abdullah

  • Dr Tan Cheng Bock: I Agree With Lee Hsien Loong On The Qualities Of Ideal Candidate

    Dr Tan Cheng Bock: I Agree With Lee Hsien Loong On The Qualities Of Ideal Candidate

    Last night PM Lee was asked this question

    Q: Who would be the ideal candidate for you for the next Elected President?

    PM Lee: Somebody who can identify with all Singaporeans, whom all Singaporeans will look up to, respect, and at the same time, have the experience and the weight and the judgement to look at what the Government is putting up to them, and to say yes, or no, depending on whether or not it is the wise thing to do. You need the experience, you need the personality.

    You also need that trust which people must build up in you, so when you say, I have made this decision after consulting my conscience and consulting wise people, it carries weight and people respect you and they feel proud to be Singaporean. That’s what we want.

    I am in full agreement with PM.

     

    Source: Dr Tan Cheng Bock