SINGAPORE - Presidential candidate Ng Kok Song reiterated that he is the only hopeful who is non-partisan in the presidential election and called on Singaporeans to uphold the spirit of the Constitution by voting for him.
The Constitution dictates that the president of Singapore must be non-partisan, yet the system has allowed past political leaders to stand for election merely months after resigning from their political party, said Mr Ng, the former GIC chief investment officer.
Speaking during the second and final presidential candidate broadcast on Wednesday, Mr Ng noted that the two other candidates – former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66, and former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian, 75 – had close affiliations to political parties.
Mr Ng, 75, said of his rivals: “One candidate resigned a month ago from the Government and from the ruling party to stand for president. The second candidate has opposition leaders in his campaigning.
“I am the only non-partisan candidate. I do not and have never belonged to any political party.”
Here are four key takeaways from his speech:
1. It is important to have a non-partisan president
Mr Ng said that there will be more reasons and more crises which will lead to having to draw heavily on the reserves in coming years.
He questioned: “Can we take the risk of having another government-endorsed president checking government requests to draw down our reserves? Is it appropriate for an ex-finance minister who set fiscal policies to then move across the table and become the president and check on the very policies that he had put in place?
“I do not believe any person should be put in such a position of conflict, and we don’t need to. We cannot rely on an ‘ownself check ownself’ mechanism to safeguard our reserves or the integrity of the public service.”
2. The risks have increased
Mr Ng referenced the 1984 National Day Rally when then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew raised the idea of the elected presidency and warned of silver-tongued politicians who made empty promises and squandered Singapore’s reserves.
Earlier this month, he said, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said that in a freak election with the wrong team in charge, a rogue government that wanted to raid the reserves would be able to lose the life savings of generations of Singaporeans in one term.
Mr Ng said: “Politics in Singapore today has become highly contestable. Having the wrong team in charge in the near future is no longer a remote possibility.
“Our government leadership will also undergo a generational change in the next few years. There are uncertainties and risks with all transitions.”
He pointed to recent controversies discussed in Parliament and said that these imply that Singapore cannot take for granted the exceptionally high standards of incorruptibility and integrity of good government. “In the face of such increasing risks, we cannot afford to have a president who may be beholden to political parties who endorse their nominations and help get them elected.
“We cannot afford to have a president who is manipulated by political parties to serve their political agenda,” he said.
3. The time has come to uphold the spirit of the Constitution
The Constitution of Singapore requires that anyone nominated for president not belong to any political party, yet all elected presidents since 1993 have been affiliated to or endorsed by the ruling People’s Action Party, said Mr Ng.
He added: “Our system has been compromising the spirit of the Constitution. Our system has complied with the letter but not the spirit of the Constitution.
“Our system allowed past political leaders to stand for election merely months after resigning from their political party.”
4. Set an example for other non-partisan, competent, loyal Singaporeans to stand
Mr Ng pointed out that Singapore has had three walkovers in the last five presidential elections and said: “While the bar to qualify for the presidency is high, I believe the real reason is the perception that, unless you are endorsed by the Government or strongly supported by opposition leaders, you have no chance to get elected.”
He added that he strongly believed that there were independent, capable Singaporeans who were non-partisan and loyal to Singapore, qualified to serve as the president, and who could make the right decisions and act in the interests of all Singaporeans.
They would do so unencumbered by personal ties and loyalty to any party agenda, policy or ideology, past or present.
“I am standing in this election, to set an example for more Singaporeans to do the same in the coming years. I am the only candidate in this election who is non-partisan. More than that, I have the domain knowledge and experience to protect our reserves,” he said.
