Constitutional Commission on elected presidency: Loke Hoe Yeong's submission
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Mr Loke Hoe Yeong speaks during the Constitutional Commission 2016 public hearing, on April 18, 2016.
ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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Chong Zi Liang
SINGAPORE - Political science academic Loke Hoe Yeong proposed that two candidates - one of whom must be from a minority race - run on a joint ticket.
If elected, one of the candidates will be vice-president and also take up the role of Parliament Speaker, similar to how the United States vice-president also heads the US Senate, said Mr Loke, who spoke on Monday (April 18).
After the hearing, Mr Loke, 31, summed up his submission to The Straits Times: "I believe it could be perceived as being very undemocratic if the Government designates that an office be only contested by candidates of a certain ethnicity. This concern was raised by Mr Lee Kuan Yew in the context of the Select Committee hearings of 1988 on the GRC system. I believe it applies with equal, if not more force to the elected Presidency."
