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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Prataman: I prefer procedures flexible</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">Feb-17 10:37 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 12) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>7417.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Constitution keeps procedures flexible
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Clarissa Oon
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->NOTHING in the Constitution currently spells out how the Elected President should deal with a request to use past reserves, beyond the need to consult his council of advisers.
President S R Nathan noted this yesterday at a press conference where he explained the steps he took before giving in-principle agreement for a draw on past reserves for the first time.
The sum to be drawn is $4.9 billion, to fund one-off schemes in the forthcoming Budget aimed at saving jobs and making it easier for companies to get bank loans.
The only other thing the President is required by law to do - after giving the Government his in-principle approval - is to state that fact in writing.
He is expected to give his formal approval any day now, once he receives a written request from Parliament following its approval last Friday of the budgets of the different ministries.
The Constitution also does not require that he call a press conference to explain his decision, he added in response to questions.
When asked if he favoured more detailed guidelines on how to deal with such requests from the Government, Mr Nathan said he preferred the procedure to be 'flexible'.
This is because no one in his position can predict what kind of future scenarios will crop up on which a decision must be made, and 'each situation will merit its own attention'.
President Nathan was also asked whether, having gone through this process for the first time, there were any procedures leading to unlocking the reserves that needed to be fine-tuned.
Responding, he said the only issue was that of time.
He had 11 days to consider and approve the draw on the reserves just ahead of the unveiling of this year's Budget on Jan 22 - a month earlier than usual.
However, he attributed the time constraints to the rapidly deteriorating global economic situation and the urgent need for a swift and decisive response from the Government in the Budget.
'If we had the luxury of time, of course, we'd have taken a longer time. But the circumstances were such, people's confidence had to be restored.'
Under amendments to the Constitution in 1991, it is the role of the Elected President, advised by an eight-member Council of Presidential Advisers, to act as a 'second key' to safeguard the past reserves - those not accumulated by a government during its current term of office.
Earlier this month, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said he was in favour of putting up three 'No' signs for drawing on past reserves.
The first two 'Nos' were against drawing on the reserves to fund social assistance programmes or permanent programmes. The third was that there should be no draw on it except under dire circumstances that required one-off extraordinary measures.
When asked for his views on SM Goh's remarks, Mr Nathan replied saying that the reserves are Singapore's 'only strategic asset'.
He added: 'We can't use it for each and every reason without considering its longer-term implications because if we exhaust it, where do we go to?' Social assistance programmes, for one, can be funded from the existing Budget and did not require dipping into the reserves to fund them, he said.
[email protected]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Clarissa Oon
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->NOTHING in the Constitution currently spells out how the Elected President should deal with a request to use past reserves, beyond the need to consult his council of advisers.
President S R Nathan noted this yesterday at a press conference where he explained the steps he took before giving in-principle agreement for a draw on past reserves for the first time.
The sum to be drawn is $4.9 billion, to fund one-off schemes in the forthcoming Budget aimed at saving jobs and making it easier for companies to get bank loans.
The only other thing the President is required by law to do - after giving the Government his in-principle approval - is to state that fact in writing.
He is expected to give his formal approval any day now, once he receives a written request from Parliament following its approval last Friday of the budgets of the different ministries.
The Constitution also does not require that he call a press conference to explain his decision, he added in response to questions.
When asked if he favoured more detailed guidelines on how to deal with such requests from the Government, Mr Nathan said he preferred the procedure to be 'flexible'.
This is because no one in his position can predict what kind of future scenarios will crop up on which a decision must be made, and 'each situation will merit its own attention'.
President Nathan was also asked whether, having gone through this process for the first time, there were any procedures leading to unlocking the reserves that needed to be fine-tuned.
Responding, he said the only issue was that of time.
He had 11 days to consider and approve the draw on the reserves just ahead of the unveiling of this year's Budget on Jan 22 - a month earlier than usual.
However, he attributed the time constraints to the rapidly deteriorating global economic situation and the urgent need for a swift and decisive response from the Government in the Budget.
'If we had the luxury of time, of course, we'd have taken a longer time. But the circumstances were such, people's confidence had to be restored.'
Under amendments to the Constitution in 1991, it is the role of the Elected President, advised by an eight-member Council of Presidential Advisers, to act as a 'second key' to safeguard the past reserves - those not accumulated by a government during its current term of office.
Earlier this month, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said he was in favour of putting up three 'No' signs for drawing on past reserves.
The first two 'Nos' were against drawing on the reserves to fund social assistance programmes or permanent programmes. The third was that there should be no draw on it except under dire circumstances that required one-off extraordinary measures.
When asked for his views on SM Goh's remarks, Mr Nathan replied saying that the reserves are Singapore's 'only strategic asset'.
He added: 'We can't use it for each and every reason without considering its longer-term implications because if we exhaust it, where do we go to?' Social assistance programmes, for one, can be funded from the existing Budget and did not require dipping into the reserves to fund them, he said.
[email protected]
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