In the early 1980s, Prof Jayakumar, who was then the law minister, was involved in drafting the White Papers and constitutional amendments on the Elected Presidency.
He said some candidates seem to imply that the president is a separate centre of power, distinct from the government and that he has certain executive powers. But Prof Jayakumar said this is not the case.
He said the president does have some discretionary custodial powers, mainly to do with reserves and key appointments.
He also has some custodial powers over detentions under the Internal Security Act, Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigations and the Maintenance of Religious Harmony restraining orders.
Other than these specific areas, the president constitutionally has to act on the advice of the Cabinet and this is the legal position.
Prof Jayakumar said it would be good if Singaporeans, and especially aspiring candidates, are clear about this.
Otherwise, wrong expectations will be created about exactly what the president can and cannot do.
REPLY BY TAN KIN LIAN
I am aware of the role of the Elected President and the limitation of the President's powers as prescribed in the constitution. My understanding is the same as expressed by Mr. Jayakumar. I thank the former Senior Minister, who I respect very much, for explaining these facts for the understanding of the people of Singapore.
Some people have expressed the view that the President who is directly elected by people, hopefully with a clear majority, should have the moral authority to influence the government in reviewing some of its policies that have a significant negative impact on the lives and the future of Singaporeans.
I hope that, within the limited constitutional powers, the Elected President can have an influence in these matters and that his or her contribution would be welcomed by the Government. Hopefully, this would benefit the people of Singapore and the improve our system of governance.
I will be giving more thought to what can or cannot be done, and how the objectives can be achieved and may issue a more detailed statement on this matter in a few days time.
3 comments:
The President can veto any legislation for signature of assent if he feels is unjust or unconstitutional. But of course the third time he has to sign it.
SM Jayakumar had clarified that the President does have some discretionary custodial powers, mainly to do with Reserves and Key Appointments.
Then the question is, why President Nathan did not query about the losses
sustained by GIC and particularly Temasek, when the latter engaged in roulette style investments overseas such as Barclays Bank and the ABC Learning in Australia? We,
the taxpayers, are very disappointed and unhappy with the President for keeping silent on this. Isn't he supposed to be the Guardian of our hardearned Reserves? And to rub salt into our wounds, the PAP Govt just jacked up his pay further. Then we asking ourselves now, why are we paying 4 to 5 million dollars to a President who is not doing the most important duty expected of him by the citizens, that is to protect our Reserves. And what would happen if a future rogue Govt
was to engage in similar roulette gambling on a bigger scale that might wipe out our Reserves? And if we have a similar meek President that also keeps mum, then Singapore will be in trouble.
In such a scenario, in an economic downturn, it is pointless for the President to exercise his powers to release some of the Reserves to tide over the country's difficulties, as the Treasury is empty now, the reserves are gambled away already. This is the loophole in the Constitution.
zhummeng
Here are the views from a lawyer friend.
The President may withhold assent to certain bills only. These are bills which directly or indirectly affect the discretionary powers.
The is in Article 22H of the Constitution which reads:
22H (1) The President may, acting in his discretion, in writing withhold his assent to any Bill (other than a Bill seeking to amend this Constitution), if the Bill or any provision therein provides, directly or indirectly, for the circumvention or curtailment of the discretionary powers conferred upon the President by this Constitution.
He then must refer the matter to a tribunal under Article 100. The tribunal must then decide whether Bill directly or indirectly circumvent or curtail the discretionary powers of the President. President Ong TC used this provision to refer a bill before the tribunal which decided against him.
If the President does not signal his assent nor withholding of his assent, upon expiry of 30 days, the bill shall be deemed to have been assented to by the President.
For all other Bills, the President does not have discretionay power and he cannot withhold his assent. He is deemed to have given his assent upon the expiry of 30 days.
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