Singapore Members of Parliament must declare their fees and stock options earned in private businesses

Producer: Valarie Tan
First broadcast:30 April 04, Radio Singapore International

Singapore s Members of Parliament or MPs would no longer be allowed to serve on boards of companies.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said this in a letter addressed to the MPs of the ruling People s Action Party or PAP this week.

MPs will also have to notify the party of their services as private company directors and declare the fees and stock options they earned.

Fees and stock options were previously not required for declaration.

So why the change this time?

Valarie Tan put this question to former nominated member of parliament, Mr Zulkifli Baharuddin.

ZB: I think first thing, we have to understand the selection process. Its quite stringent. They get people who are successful in business and in the corporate world. The same people who wanted in politics are also highly demanded in the private sector. If things are not properly done, you ll find a lot of potential for conflicts of interests, abuses of political position and power. And I think those guidelines are timely. What s important is that the prime minister has made those guidelines very open and now those MPs are going to be measured in very open standards and disclosed to the public.

You mentioned conflicts of interests. So what are some of these that can arise when government MPs have private business interests?

ZB: There s a possibility that people may use their power to lobby for businesses to influence their businesses, their personal interests. Especially when you have in Singapore, quite a dominant public sector. So having an MP as a board member, they re able to influence decisions in their dealings with government for that matter. So I think those are possible conflicts of interests.

So you think this is going to be a positive move?

ZB: I think it s a thing if you look at the fact that the Prime Minister has made this very open and transparent, people are not going to watch how MPs balance their commercial and their political interests. And if they do not, their own political position is going to suffer, their own credibility is going to suffer and that s not going to be good for any political party in Singapore.

How will this affect MPs who have outstanding business links at this moment?

ZB: I think at the end of the day, each MP has to be clear if you can balance, some people can do more, some people perhaps cannot do as much. If they can do both, manage their constituency, their responsibilities first as a politician, and still fulfill their duties as a corporate executive, that s fine. But once they start to compromise, its going to be very difficult. And the fact remains the political requirements of running their constituencies, their political obligations, its very time-consuming. So in reality, its very hard to balance both.

But will this discourage successful high flyers from the private sector to become MPs in the future?

ZB: I don t think so, because at the end of the day, if someone wants to be in politics, first and foremost, it must be in the interest of the public, their first love must to serve the public in society. If their first love is to serve the corporate needs, then they should not be in politics.

And what sort of implications will this have for the next Prime Minister of Singapore?

ZB: Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is part of the government that issued these guidelines. I think these are all measures that are good in the long run. These are all positive moves.