Candidates reminded not to mislead public on president’s role after Tan Kin Lian’s script edit remarks
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Presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian speaking to the media during his visit to Senja Hawker Centre on Aug 24.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
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SINGAPORE - The Elections Department (ELD) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have pointed out inaccuracies in Mr Tan Kin Lian’s original presidential candidate broadcast script about the president’s role, as it reminded candidates not to mislead the public about the president’s duties.
On Thursday, ELD and IMDA said in a joint statement that Mr Tan’s original script had suggested that the president can provide guidance on the reserves’ investment strategies and influence government policy.
“After being notified of the inaccuracies, Mr Tan’s election agent corrected them without objection,” said the statement.
The release came after Mr Tan earlier on Thursday criticised IMDA for directing that three key paragraphs of the script for his first presidential candidate broadcast be removed, and that he did “not agree with the decision but (had) no choice” but to relent.
All candidates, including Mr Tan, had signed a statutory declaration on their nomination papers to confirm that they had read the explanatory material on the president’s constitutional role,
“The candidates also signed a voluntary undertaking on campaigning for the election in a manner that is dignified, decorous and consistent with the president’s position,” they added.
ELD and IMDA said: “We remind all candidates not to mislead the public about the president’s role.”
On Thursday morning, Mr Tan told reporters during a walkabout at Senja Hawker Centre in Bukit Panjang that IMDA had directed that he remove what he considered “the most important paragraphs of my campaign”.
Apart from how he intended to provide guidance on reserves investment, the three paragraphs mentioned cost of living, housing policy and jobs.
“I consider (that) the IMDA does not have the authority to interpret the Constitution in their way, and ask for the statements to be removed,” he said. “I did not have time to argue about that and I removed these statements. I will deal with IMDA separately.“
On Tuesday, the three presidential candidates declared in their nomination papers that they understand the role of the president under the Constitution, including that the president cannot publicly express any view on laws and government policies except in matters related to the exercise of the president’s discretionary powers.
The candidates signed this declaration after they had read an explanatory note that sets out what the president can and cannot do.
For instance, the president can veto the expected long-term real rate of return proposed annually by the key statutory boards and key government companies. But he cannot decide on investment policies of these investment entities.
On Thursday, Mr Tan also told the media that he had only one day to prepare and submit to IMDA the script of his broadcast, including vernacular translations.
“It was very rushed. How do you expect me, with many things to take care of with the campaign, to meet this requirement?” said Mr Tan. “It’s okay, I submitted.”
ELD and IMDA said in their statement that presidential candidates were informed of the timing of the broadcast and the rules on Aug 12, and were briefed on Monday.
The former NTUC Income chief executive added: “Some people suggested that I was misleading the people by promising them goals that I did not have the executive authority to deliver.
“I am not misleading the people. I had made it clear, in many statements, that I would be using the office of the president to convey to the government about the hardships faced by the people and about their aspirations.”
