Xu Linzhu: About the potential issues of the election presidential system

Before the next presidential election, the Presidential Election Commission and Election Bureau seem to work more to solve the problem to ensure that the qualified procedures, the duties of the president, and the presidential system can be effectively operated.

Singapore voters selected Shangdanman as the ninth president of Singapore with decisive votes.

After the election bureau announced the sampling counting results, Shang Damman was interviewed by media reporters.He said the election result was another milestone in Singapore's "development process."70.41%of voters chose a non -Chinese candidate from a candidate for a variety of racial backgrounds as president.This is a powerful commission received by the new president.Shangdaman's ability, Singapore, which is inclusive and love, and the status of a strong leader in the international status, is recognized by voters.There is no doubt that the election results show that the popularity of Shangdanman and other personal characteristics surpass the race.

The storm during the campaign

However, it is certain that it is not time for Shangdanman to make the Presidential Palace.The other two candidates Huang Guosong and Chen Qinliang did not show mercy during the campaign.They listed their ability and experience as president, and also strongly advocated that the president should be appointed by not being a public office in the near future, or not a member of the party members of the ruling party.This may be the only negative in Shang Damman, but the other two candidates must persuade the general public that their claims are correct.

There are many twists and turns in this campaign.On the public opinion field of closed network platforms such as online, social media and WhatsApp, many issues on election systems and presidential duties have been raised.

However, the general public was eventually not affected by these disputes.Shang Daman is lofty in political status. His humanistic spirit and open mind are well known, and it is important that he has the same words and deeds, and has practiced the claim of the campaign slogan "mutual respect" without playing dirty means.One of his candidates even retracted the relevant remarks after claiming to be discredited by the Shangdanman camp, because Shangdanman carefully stated that he would not tolerate such a way of campaign, even his supporters.

Questions about candidate qualifications

Nevertheless, problems that emerge during the presidential election in 2023 should still be properly solved, otherwise the next presidential election will appear again.

The first question is related to qualifications for candidates.Readers should remember that there are also fourth people who actively invest in campaign in early June and publicly stated their intention to run.He was Wu Zhenhua, a businessman who once served as the Ambassador to Singapore in Morocco.

Wu Zhenhua chose to strive for qualifications through the "Deliberatate Track", showing that he was like the public who was informed.Several companies are together to obtain candidate qualifications.

However, when Wu Zhenhua's qualified candidate's application was rejected, he pointed out that the Presidential Election Commission's decision was not fair and believed that the committee "was too narrow to interpret the election conditions and did not explain the basis for decision."

In this incident, some people tried to ask serious doubts about the system, but after the committee disclosed the letter, the distrust of the system basically subsided.In fierce elections, if the official prestige is weakened, it will be very unfortunate.

In addition, in the candidate qualification topic, Huang Guosong also questioned whether it should make the former government officials a presidential candidate.He believes that there may be conflicts in interest and call on voters to support non -party candidates like him.However, the current rules are clearly stated that the cabinet positions held by candidates meet the conditions for becoming candidates.

Huang Guosong's remarks have resonated with the public, but the contribution of the late President Wang Dingchang, who has the independent President Wang Dingchang, responded in a very convincing way.He said that he should not be labeled simply on this subject, and called on people to understand the character and achievement of candidates more deeply.

The results of the presidential election show that this topic is not enough to trouble voters, so that Shangdaman has the failure of the president.But in the future, it may be proposed again.

The third topic related to the qualifications of candidates is that the presidential election committee is "straightforward, good, and reputation" in terms of words.However, the non -profit organization Women's Action and Research Association (Aware) pointed out that Chen Qinliang has the former department of "materialized women, commented on women's appearance for self -entertainment", which makes people question how the presidential election committee guarantees the character's character.Although the purpose of the Women's Association's voice is to remind the public, the Presidential Election Commission stated that it would let voters judge whether they should criticize Chen Qinliang because of these words and deeds that later floated on the table.

For candidates who have relationships with political parties in the past, if they want to come up with the promise of the president's oath, when making a judgment, "not fear or favoritism, no feelings or maliciousness, and do not consider before with any before and anymore."Any relationship between political parties is not easy.Similarly, in addition to those who have crimes or bankruptcy records, the Presidential Election Commission must confirm that potential candidates have good character and challenging.

However, when establishing a strong system like the presidential system, spend time solve these topics, refer to convincing cases, and even consider possible problems and adjust some procedures, which will help the next election more smoothly smootherIt is also ensured that less controversy will be triggered when performing clear rules.

Create wrong expectations

The second topic of almost crossing the border in this campaign is Chen Qinliang said that he will persuade the government to solve the problem of high living expenses, the level of housing burden and work guarantee.Although he later assured people during the campaign that he knew that the president had no power to formulate a government's policy agenda, but he still insisted on his ability to exert soft power and express his views.

Shang Damman chose to focus on the campaign that the president can enhance the vulnerable groups through moral persuasion and the organization sponsored by the people.This is a strong information of unity.

Future presidential candidates may be eager to move and want to make various commitments affecting public policies.But should we make greater efforts and clearly explain that the president's policy and goals are different from the government, although the two are as important?

Seeing candidates' wrong statements on the president's duties, and may cause voters to choose candidates based on unrealistic expectations, which is troublesome.Even though candidates voluntarily certify that they understand the duties and limitations of the president, this campaign has almost appeared in unfair competition. Although other candidates, media and election bureau have tried their best to point out that such a campaign is "offside".

Election bureaus may need to be more public publicity.By the next election, the media and other third parties that report this kind of cross -border behavior should also be praised.

Appointment supporters enter the presidential consultant council

Another worrying episode that appeared during the campaign was Chen Qinliang's proposal to appoint his supporter -Chen Rusi of the Singapore Democratic Party and Chen Qingmu, the chairman of Singapore, Chen Qingmu -served as a member of the presidential consultant council.

President is using the past national storageBefore the reserves and appointment of government positions, they must consult the presidential consultant council.Although the president has the right to appoint up to three people to enter the council, and there is no regulation that the president cannot appoint supporters as a member of the council, the council should not be affected by the party when fulfilling its duties.

In this subject, Huang Guosong stood up bravely, strongly opposed the appointment supporters into the presidential consultant council, and pointed out that the party's dispute was brought into the danger of the presidential system.However, can we take it for granted that the candidates and the victors of the presidential election understand that when they choose a member of the presidential consultant council, they should also follow the spirit of the post of president, that is, members of the council know that they must surpass them beyondPolitics is not a member of any political party. At the same time, we must be loyal to the duties.This is a thought that is worth pondering.

The presidential election is not a midterm election

Before the next presidential election, strengthening the election presidential mechanism and solving these problems will help consolidate the role of election president to surpass politics.This is not a detailed branch, but a substantial difference.

After all, voting the political procedures and institutions involved in the president is different from the political procedures and institutions involved in the election of the government. Excluding the party's disputes in the election presidential system, it will further consolidate two two.The difference between people.

The government selected through the general election is the national executive authority. The responsibilities are to formulate public policies and legislation, and the preparation of national budgets to achieve these goals.The president must vote directly by the people through different procedures.They must rely on individual and unique traits, and they must be qualified to act as this unique position, and voters must decide which candidate they are most recognized in the next six years.

Earlier this month, we celebrated the breakthrough victory of Shangdanman, and the only in Singapore's development of diversified races was to use the system to draw a new milestone.

Before the next presidential election, the Presidential Election Commission and Election Bureau seem to work more to solve the problem to ensure that the qualified procedures of candidates, the duties of the president, and the presidential system can be effectively operated.

However, Shang Damman strictly adheres to the rules in this campaign, always remembered the characteristics of the presidential position, and the Singaporeans gave him a decisive victory, and once again consolidated people's confidence in the election presidential system.

Shangdanman has won the trust of Singaporeans as the head of state.Now, he can not only pass the words, but also use physical strength to give people a correct understanding of the president.

The author is a senior researcher at Singapore National University Policy Research Institute

Singapore Policy Research Institute provides translations