During the second and last Presidential Candidate Broadcast on Aug 30, Ng Kok Song highlighted that Singapore’s elected presidents have all been affiliated to or endorsed by the People's Action Party, and that such a system has compromised the spirit of the Constitution.
For all PE2023 updates: https://bit.ly/3Kz6DX2
For all PE2023 updates: https://bit.ly/3Kz6DX2
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 The intent of our Constitution is very clear, to have a non-partisan elected president so
00:10 that the president is above the partisan politics of Parliament.
00:17 Yet all our elected presidents since 1993 were affiliated to or endorsed by the PAP.
00:29 Our system has been compromising the spirit of the Constitution.
00:36 Our system has complied with the letter but not the spirit of the Constitution.
00:44 Our system allowed past political leaders to stand for election merely months after
00:51 resigning from their political party.
00:55 Politics in Singapore today has become highly contestable.
01:02 Having the wrong team in charge in the near future is no longer a remote possibility.
01:11 Our government leadership will also undergo a generational change in the next few years.
01:20 There are uncertainties and risks with all transitions in the face of such increasing
01:27 risks.
01:28 We cannot afford to have a president who may be beholden to political parties who endorse
01:38 their nominations and help get them elected.
01:43 We cannot afford to have a president who is manipulated by political parties to serve
01:51 their political agenda.
01:54 Is it appropriate for an ex-finance minister who set fiscal policies to then move across
02:02 the table and become the president and check on the very policies that he had put in place?
02:12 I do not believe any person should be put in such a position of conflict.
02:20 And we don't need to.
02:24 We cannot rely on an own-self check, own-self mechanism to safeguard our reserves or the
02:32 integrity of the public service.
02:36 [Music]
02:38 [Music]
02:40 [Music]
02:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]