15 Reasons Why Singapore Does Not Need an Elected President

1. Singapore is a parliamentary republic where the people elect their representatives every five years to represent them in Parliament as MPs
2. The party that controls the most seats in Parliament forms the Government and executive power is exercised by the Cabinet.
3. Checks and balances and holding the government to accountability is through parliamentary debates, a role expected of the opposition whose increasing presence in Parliament will ensure that.
4. The role of the president as head of state has been historically, largely ceremonial.
5. The custodian and veto powers of the elected president are very limited in scope and will, in practice, not achieve the objective intended.
6. The purpose of an elected presidency was to block or pre-empt a future non-PAP government on the assumption that such a government will not be capable and honest.
7. Based on the present stringent criteria required of any presidential hopeful, the elected president, in all probability, will be a pro-PAP or ex-PAP man.
8. It is unlikely that the opposition can win enough seats in the next few elections to topple the PAP government to warrant a pro-PAP elected presidency to use its powers to stymie the governance of the new government.
9. Even if a new non-PAP government is formed, it will come about through free and fair election and will thus, have the mandate of the people to govern without the need for presidential interference.
10. Should the PAP indeed fail to form the government in future, it will still have considerable weight - given its collection of multi-million dollar ministerial talents - to play out its role as an effective opposition to check on the new government of the day.
11. Having a pro-PAP president to interfere with a government freely elected by the people runs counter to the system of parliamentary democracy and risks usurping the functions and powers of the executive, the government.
12. For a president with limited role to play in the functioning of the government except in situations where he, as head of state, has to perform ceremonial functions, $4.2 million is way too much to pay, an extravagance for which there is surely much better use.
13. The salaries of presidents and heads of state of the world’s most developed nations are at least 3 or 4 times lower than what Singapore pays its president.
14. Paying the president $4.2 a year is used as an additional alibi by the government to justify and pay its ministers equally much, thus eroding the moral authority of the government to govern.
15. For the reasons listed, Singapore does not need an elected president for the role intended, and most Singaporeans are not in favour of it either.

In light of the above, it is therefore suggested that the government move to hold a national referendum as soon as possible so that the people of Singapore can decide if they want an elected president or an elected presidency in its present form.