Elected presidency, GRC, NCMP schemes have served Singapore well: SM Lee

The mechanism of the “second key” to the national reserves has also worked as intended, he said.

Political parties advocating more generous social spending in normal times have been forced to explain how they will fund their schemes, or make the case for changing the rules to spend more from the reserves, said Mr Lee.

“In emergencies like the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of the day has been able, with the approval of the elected president, to draw on our past reserves to fund substantial emergency packages,” he said.

“This signified both the gravity of the situation, and the government’s capacity to do whatever it takes to tackle the crisis, backed by the substantial reserves that we have built up.”

While the elected presidency has fostered more prudent and sustainable attitudes towards state spending among political parties and the public, it is not “a complete panacea”, said Mr Lee. 

The elected president must be equal to the heavy task, convinced that it is his proper role and responsibility, and also has to win popular support to get elected in the first place, said Mr Lee.

“And as experience has shown, it is not a given that voters in a Presidential Election will judge candidates solely on who is best qualified for the task, or who is most committed to fulfilling his custodial role,” he said.

“In an election, especially one decided by a nationwide popular vote, many other factors and considerations can influence the outcome.”

He emphasised that Singaporeans need to understand the harm that a rogue government can do to the country, and be careful not to elect presidents who will exceed their roles and responsibilities and cause the system to malfunction.

“But on the whole, Singapore’s political system and long-term stability are much better served with the check and balance afforded by an elected president than without,” said Mr Lee.

GRC AND NCMP SCHEMES

Mr Lee also touched on the impact of the NCMP and GRC schemes.

Since the introduction of GRCs in 1988, the proportion of MPs elected from such blocs has gradually increased, while the proportion of single-member constituencies has been maintained, he said.

Today, GRCs account for the majority of MPs in parliament, said Mr Lee.

“It is no longer seriously doubted that GRCs have been necessary to ensure that minority races are always adequately represented in parliament,” he said.

There is also no question whether the minority member of a GRC team enjoys the same mandate and political standing as his teammates, said Mr Lee.

“Importantly, the GRC scheme has also discouraged race-based politics. Parties that make overt racial appeals to one group risk losing support from other groups, as experience has shown,” said Mr Lee.

The scheme has therefore contributed significantly to protecting and fostering multi-racial politics in Singapore, he said.

On the NCMP scheme, Mr Lee said the primary motivation when it was first conceptualised was to prevent opposition voices from being completely shut out of parliament.

“In that era, it was quite possible for the winning party to make a clean sweep at general elections,” he said. “Four decades on, this is no longer a plausible scenario. Opposition MPs are routinely elected in general elections.”

While public expectations for more alternative voices in the House have risen, the government has also found it useful for more such voices to be represented in parliament, to engage them in robust and open political debate, said Mr Lee.

“Over the years, we have gradually increased the minimum number of opposition members guaranteed by the NCMP scheme,” he said, adding that the figure has risen from the original three to 12 today.

Mr Lee noted that this is more than 10 per cent of all MPs, and more than the 10 opposition MPs directly elected in last year’s election.

Two NCMPs currently top up the opposition presence in the House, and Mr Lee said opposition parties continue to claim to reject the scheme but in reality have never turned down an offer for the post since the 1984 election.

“On the contrary, they have made full use of the NCMP scheme to raise the public profiles of narrowly losing candidates, in the hope of improving their chances of winning outright in the next election, as has happened more than once. But this is par for the course,” he said.