Why did PM Lee announced to Singaporeans changes on the electoral system when he is halfway across the world in Trinidad and Tobago? Why can't he wait until he returns from abroad to announce such an important news?
http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/clement-tan/time-to-think-before-voting-rationa.htm
Time to think before voting rationally? - Clement Tan
So the Singapore PAP government's way of mitigating the influence of digital/new media on any upcoming elections in Singapore is to legislate a day of contemplation right before voting day itself. But the minimum period between Nomination Day and Polling Day will be extended from nine to 10 days to compensate for the extra "cooling off" day.
I find it somewhat ironic that PM Lee Hsien Loong chose to break this news halfway around the world, in Trinidad and Tobago - and here's the kicker, right before he leaves for Cuba. Try imagining the American president announcing constitutional changes from anywhere outside America. I wonder: who is the one who needs that metaphorical and literal space here?
From The Straits Times (abbreviated version here, and extended version here):
Also, according to the same ST article, this decision comes in the light of another significant set of changes to the election rules Lee Junior proposed in May, when he announced in Parliament that Singapore’s political system would be amended to give non-People’s Action Party (PAP) members at least 18 seats, or nearly one-fifth, of the House.
This would involve changes regarding the Non-Constituency MP (Wiki backgrounder here) and Nominated MP schemes (Wiki backgrounder here), and more intriguingly, an apparent reduction in the size of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and an increase in the number of single-member wards. Refer to this Wikipedia page for some background on GRC's - truly a uniquely Singaporean electoral innovation.
But what do all of these - electoral changes, sudden "expulsion" of a foreign freelance journalist who was relatively harmless - mean? Election season is probably coming really soon in Singapore again - by the end of the first quarter of 2010, anyone? - but whether every Singaporean gets to vote is another matter altogether.
http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/clement-tan/time-to-think-before-voting-rationa.htm
Time to think before voting rationally? - Clement Tan
So the Singapore PAP government's way of mitigating the influence of digital/new media on any upcoming elections in Singapore is to legislate a day of contemplation right before voting day itself. But the minimum period between Nomination Day and Polling Day will be extended from nine to 10 days to compensate for the extra "cooling off" day.
I find it somewhat ironic that PM Lee Hsien Loong chose to break this news halfway around the world, in Trinidad and Tobago - and here's the kicker, right before he leaves for Cuba. Try imagining the American president announcing constitutional changes from anywhere outside America. I wonder: who is the one who needs that metaphorical and literal space here?
From The Straits Times (abbreviated version here, and extended version here):
“It is good to have 24 hours to calm down, think about it, and then tomorrow we vote,” said Lee.
But will this work as well in the era of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and other forms of online social media?
Lee acknowledged that there was a grey area with regard to the Internet, where private exchanges could quickly become public ones, and the policing of online violators could be tricky.
Nonetheless, he hoped the spirit and principle of the “cooling-off” period would be upheld by Internet users.
The websites of the political parties, however, will be bound by the new rules.
“I can’t control several million videos on YouTube. But your website, what you are putting out in your own name, I think that should end on the day before cooling-off day,” said Lee.
Apparently this legislation has been planned for years and brings us in line with countries such as Australia, Indonesia, Italy and Mexico - all of whom have some variation of this feature in their electoral systems, with anything from one to three days of campaign silence before the final vote.But will this work as well in the era of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and other forms of online social media?
Lee acknowledged that there was a grey area with regard to the Internet, where private exchanges could quickly become public ones, and the policing of online violators could be tricky.
Nonetheless, he hoped the spirit and principle of the “cooling-off” period would be upheld by Internet users.
The websites of the political parties, however, will be bound by the new rules.
“I can’t control several million videos on YouTube. But your website, what you are putting out in your own name, I think that should end on the day before cooling-off day,” said Lee.
Also, according to the same ST article, this decision comes in the light of another significant set of changes to the election rules Lee Junior proposed in May, when he announced in Parliament that Singapore’s political system would be amended to give non-People’s Action Party (PAP) members at least 18 seats, or nearly one-fifth, of the House.
This would involve changes regarding the Non-Constituency MP (Wiki backgrounder here) and Nominated MP schemes (Wiki backgrounder here), and more intriguingly, an apparent reduction in the size of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and an increase in the number of single-member wards. Refer to this Wikipedia page for some background on GRC's - truly a uniquely Singaporean electoral innovation.
But what do all of these - electoral changes, sudden "expulsion" of a foreign freelance journalist who was relatively harmless - mean? Election season is probably coming really soon in Singapore again - by the end of the first quarter of 2010, anyone? - but whether every Singaporean gets to vote is another matter altogether.
