|
Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong sought the views
of his party's Members of Parliament last week, on his choice
for Singapore's next Prime Minister.
He has received unanimous support for Deputy Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong to succeed him as Prime Minister, from both
his ministers and MPs.
The exact date of when Mr Lee will succeed Mr Goh will be
known in July.
Following the democratic traditions of other countries, Mr
Goh said that he wanted to put in place a process by which
the MPs would elect a new leader.
Yvonne Gomez spoke to a Member of Parliament in Singapore,
Mdm Ho Geok Choo, and asked her why there was a need for such
an institutionalised process in selecting a Prime Minister.
HGC: Well, I think this process is a good one, in the sense
that it allows everyone in Parliament to participate in choosing
who they would like as their next Prime Minister.
As an MP yourself, what role have you actually played in
the selection process?
HGC: We have been given a chance to observe on our own, whether
the next Prime Minister deserves to have been nominated by
the current Prime Minister. As an MP, I feel very gratified
that our views have been sought, before the next Prime Minister
takes over. And from what I can see of the outcome of this
process, is that the vote has been unanimous, and the choice
is clear, that the next Prime Minister is someone the whole
Parliament wants.
So hypothetically, if there is more than one possible candidate,
what will the process then be, especially if the Ministers
and MPs put forward different candidates?
HGC: Then I suppose we’d have to go through a process
involving a vote.
So are you telling me, that with this process, the Minister
and MPs have equal clout in putting forward a candidate?
HGC: Well, I think the Ministers have their say and choice
on who should be the next Prime Minister, and the MPs are
also consulted and given an opportunity to express their views
and their choice.
The difficult question is, what if the MPs disagree with
the person that the Ministers have chosen. How does this new
process solve this challenge, if we’re ever faced with
it?
HGC: It all depends on the number we’re talking about.
In a democratic process like ours, at the end of the day,
if there is a contest, it is the majority votes that will
be considered. So in this situation, your question is on what
happens if there is really a disagreement as to the choice
of the next Prime Minister, or if there’s more than one
candidate who is put forward. Then I think it’ll depend
on who gets the higher votes and majority support.
What roles do nominated, non-constituency and opposition
MPs play, in this new process?
HGC: In this instance, I’m not very sure if they’ve
been consulted?
How do you think this process can be further democratized
when electing top leaders in the future? For example, Ministers
and MPs are being consulted. Is there anything else we can
do to further democratize this process?
HGC: Based on what we’ve been doing to date, it’s
getting fine-tuned and refined as we go along. As to how else
we can democratize this process further, I think it’s
really a question of whether we should extend it beyond the
Parliament, and more importantly, whether we should extend
it beyond the votes of the present governing party. When the
time comes for us to have to consider options beyond what
we’re already doing, I think we can then start looking
at some of the other ways of electing the Prime Minister.
|
Death toll in China mine disaster rises to 87