Sunday, September 13, 2015

A feasible alternative to a PAP government

Mr Tan,
You have advocated, on a few occasions, that our ministers can be appointed outside of Parliament.

But, many people do not agree with you, especially the anti-PAP people. They are afraid that it allows the PAP to appoint their candidates, who are rejected in the general election, to come to be ministers through the back door.

Why are you advocating this unpopular measure?

REPLY
We have to go to the root of the problem.

We can never find sufficient capable people from the 89 elected people to form our government. The base is too small. The "suitable" people cannot risk their career to enter politics.

The PAP derived the GRC system to provide a "safe" way for these "suitable" people to enter into politics. The GRC system has its harmful effects.

If we follow the US system to appoint ministers from outside of Parliament, we have a large pool of suitable people to choose from to form the government.

All government policies have to be approved by Parliament. This is the safeguard to the democratic process. Another safeguard is a strong and independent civil service.

My suggestion actually benefits the non-PAP parties. They can campaign to enter Parliament to represent the views of the voters in their constituency.

if the non-PAP parties form a coalition government, they have the freedom to appoint their ministers from outside of Parliament. They can reach out to the most suitable people in the whole country to run the ministries. The nominated people will still have to get the approval of Parliament.

This is the best and most feasible alternative to a PAP government.



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