The following deficiencies of the GRC system of Elections have cause PAP to lose touch with the electorate on the ground and leverage upon authoritarian means to rule Singapore:
1) Repeated gerrymandering of GRC constituency boundaries for maximum electoral advantage. This confuses the electorate if not the candidates themselves as no candidate can be expected to be fielded in the same constituency as they are incumbent MP. The relationship between MP and his constituents thus becomes shallow and superficial as it is hard to form stable relationships given such an unpredictable future. To the extent that constituency boundaries are subject to gerrymandering also disadvantages opposition political activities from taking root since such preparations can easily be thwarted by the PAP with gerrymandered boundaries towards PAP advantage.
2) Short-changing the electorate by-elections except in extreme circumstance: i.e. the vacation of seats of of ALL MPs in the GRC since to eliminate the 'inconvenience' of conducting by-elections (which the PAP often lose) the PAP has lost an essential genuine feedback mechanism about the popularity/ acceptance of their gahmen policies. (Ref: Parliamentary Elections Act (Ch218), S24(2A): "In respect of any group representation constituency, no writ shall be issued under subsection (1) for an election to fill any vacancy unless all the Members for that constituency have vacated their seats in Parliament.")
Given the situation of GE2015 having only 13 SMC seats (16GRCs) to make up an 89 seat parliament, it can be said that 76 seats (85.4%) are exempt from any by-election: a significant loss of voter feedback mechanism to the PAP.
3) In addition to short changing the electorate of the right to have a by-election, PAP MPs are excessively strait jacketed by the fear of party expulsion, with no recourse to re-election viz by-election, should they not sufficiently toe the party line with Part VI, S46(2)(b) of the Constitution ['The Legislature> Tenure of office of Members'] stating "The seat of a Member of Parliament shall become vacant — if he ceases to be a member of, or is expelled or resigns from, the political party for which he stood in the election"
Lastly, GRC system of elections is ineffective and insincere (if not deceptive) at 'entrenching the presence of minority MPs in Parliament' for the following two critical reasons:
Firstly, the law (Parliamentary Elections Act (Ch218), S24(2A)) obviously neglects ANY interest minority existence the moment GRC election results are announced as the statute does states: "In respect of any group representation constituency, no writ shall be issued under subsection (1) for an election to fill any vacancy unless all the Members for that constituency have vacated their seats in Parliament.": there is no need to replace a seat vacated by a minority candidate for any reason: suffice to say that just one candidate who need not be a minority need remain. A bait and switch trick by the PAP?
Secondly, despite needlessly emphasizing minority race differences (through 16 GRCs occupying 76 seats in a 89 seat parliament (=85.4% of all seats post GE2015)), the 16 designated GRCs are only able to guarantee a meagre presence of 16/89= 18.0% minority representation in parliament: far less than the population census result (2014) showing 25.7% of the Singapore as belonging to minority ethnic group. The significant shortfall of 25.7%-18.0%= 7.7% (or equal to 7.7%*89=6.87=~ deficit of 7 minority MPs) remains glaring proof of how deficient/ inadequate the GRC system is at defending minority ethnic interest in parliament.
Given the multitude of disadvantages the the Frankenstein GRC system of elections has brought upon the political scene in Singapore, it is inevitable that much of the blame for PAP policy inadequacies lies with the GRC system of elections. Fortunately, I have described a solutionwhich I have detailed as follows: 'NCMP scheme a great replacement for flawed GRC system of elections'
References:
1) Repeated gerrymandering of GRC constituency boundaries for maximum electoral advantage. This confuses the electorate if not the candidates themselves as no candidate can be expected to be fielded in the same constituency as they are incumbent MP. The relationship between MP and his constituents thus becomes shallow and superficial as it is hard to form stable relationships given such an unpredictable future. To the extent that constituency boundaries are subject to gerrymandering also disadvantages opposition political activities from taking root since such preparations can easily be thwarted by the PAP with gerrymandered boundaries towards PAP advantage.
2) Short-changing the electorate by-elections except in extreme circumstance: i.e. the vacation of seats of of ALL MPs in the GRC since to eliminate the 'inconvenience' of conducting by-elections (which the PAP often lose) the PAP has lost an essential genuine feedback mechanism about the popularity/ acceptance of their gahmen policies. (Ref: Parliamentary Elections Act (Ch218), S24(2A): "In respect of any group representation constituency, no writ shall be issued under subsection (1) for an election to fill any vacancy unless all the Members for that constituency have vacated their seats in Parliament.")
Given the situation of GE2015 having only 13 SMC seats (16GRCs) to make up an 89 seat parliament, it can be said that 76 seats (85.4%) are exempt from any by-election: a significant loss of voter feedback mechanism to the PAP.
3) In addition to short changing the electorate of the right to have a by-election, PAP MPs are excessively strait jacketed by the fear of party expulsion, with no recourse to re-election viz by-election, should they not sufficiently toe the party line with Part VI, S46(2)(b) of the Constitution ['The Legislature> Tenure of office of Members'] stating "The seat of a Member of Parliament shall become vacant — if he ceases to be a member of, or is expelled or resigns from, the political party for which he stood in the election"
Lastly, GRC system of elections is ineffective and insincere (if not deceptive) at 'entrenching the presence of minority MPs in Parliament' for the following two critical reasons:
Firstly, the law (Parliamentary Elections Act (Ch218), S24(2A)) obviously neglects ANY interest minority existence the moment GRC election results are announced as the statute does states: "In respect of any group representation constituency, no writ shall be issued under subsection (1) for an election to fill any vacancy unless all the Members for that constituency have vacated their seats in Parliament.": there is no need to replace a seat vacated by a minority candidate for any reason: suffice to say that just one candidate who need not be a minority need remain. A bait and switch trick by the PAP?
Secondly, despite needlessly emphasizing minority race differences (through 16 GRCs occupying 76 seats in a 89 seat parliament (=85.4% of all seats post GE2015)), the 16 designated GRCs are only able to guarantee a meagre presence of 16/89= 18.0% minority representation in parliament: far less than the population census result (2014) showing 25.7% of the Singapore as belonging to minority ethnic group. The significant shortfall of 25.7%-18.0%= 7.7% (or equal to 7.7%*89=6.87=~ deficit of 7 minority MPs) remains glaring proof of how deficient/ inadequate the GRC system is at defending minority ethnic interest in parliament.
Given the multitude of disadvantages the the Frankenstein GRC system of elections has brought upon the political scene in Singapore, it is inevitable that much of the blame for PAP policy inadequacies lies with the GRC system of elections. Fortunately, I have described a solutionwhich I have detailed as follows: 'NCMP scheme a great replacement for flawed GRC system of elections'
References:
Quote:
'Without some assurance of a good chance of winning at least their first election, many able and successful young Singaporeans may not risk their careers to join politics,'Mr Goh Chok Tong, June 2006 ['GRCs make it easier to find top talent: SM']. [Pict=Disassembling GRC system benefits PAP (Part 1 of 3)] |
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