Checks and Balances for the Singapore Government
In this article I will explore the state of affairs in the city state of Singapore when it comes to checks and balances. I will first give the definition of checks and balances, in the context of the Singapore Constitution and governmental branches. Then I will talk about groupthink, and present two crucial economics concepts: moral hazard and adverse selection, in the context of Singapore. Finally I will conclude the blog by providing recommendations the ruling party and Singaporeans can follow.
What is checks and balances?
Strictly speaking, when it comes to government, checks and balances are created to ensure that no one branch of the government becomes overly powerful. All modern parliamentary republics consist of three branches of government: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The following is taken from the gov.sg website:
The Executive comprises the Cabinet, which is responsible for the general direction of the Government and accountable to Parliament
The Legislature comprises the Parliament and is the legislative authority responsible for enacting legislation. More information on the history of Parliament, Parliament House and activities of the House can be obtained from its website.
The Judiciary's function is to independently administer justice. The Judiciary is safeguarded by the Constitution.
On paper, all these branches exist in the Singapore Government. The Executive and Legislative branches work closely in a parliamentary republic system (such as Singapore) in passing laws because, being an almost single party government, the PAP controls the majority of the votes to pass any legislation it sees fit. The MPs would of course need to consult with their constituents on legislative issues that are up for voting, but that's a different matter as groupthink is prevalent in the Singapore political system.
The Judiciary branch is the third leg of the three legged stool that tests the laws that are passed by the Executive and Legislative branches. These laws are tested in the courts, under the control of the Judiciary branch. However in Singapore, due to the unchallenged of power held by the PAP for the last 50 years, the Judiciary branch is very much influenced by the Prime Minister and the Executive branch. This can be seen by the vast number of lawsuits won by the Prime Minister for libel against political opponents where the voice of the judges were no where to be found.
Next let's take a look at some concepts that can help us frame the issues at hand within the Singapore Government.
1) Groupthink. Groupthink can be defined as a phenomenon where that occurs when the desire for group consensus trumps that of individuals' desire to present alternatives or express an unpopular opinion.
Some symptoms of groupthink are:
- Complacency (6.9 million white paper)
- Moral high ground (severe punishment for those that the PAP has deemed to have committed crimes, justified or not)
- Censorship (lack of CPF discussion, and suppression of online blogs)
After 50 years in power, hardly anyone, except for the Executive branch, believes that groupthink is not pervasive in the PAP-led supermajority government.
2) Moral Hazard. This occurs typically in a principal-agent setting, where the principal is the general populace, and the agent is the government executive members (Prime Minister and his cabinet). Moral hazard happens when the agent performs hidden actions detrimental to the principal's position. This dilemma exists because the agent sometimes is motivated to act in its own interest rather than those of the principal. Again, back to what we discussed regarding the 50 years continuum in power, moral hazard is bound to occur. A prime example is the million dollar salaries doled out to the PAP cabinet ministers. You can read up on the obscene salary paid to Lee Hsien Loong here.
3) Adverse Selection. Adverse selection happens when there is information asymmetry, causing the buyer to make a negative or bad selection detrimental to the seller offering it. In our context, the seller is the Singapore motherland, while the buyer is the individual voter. By have a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system, the PAP lumps strong candidates (for example minister calibre) and unknown ones together for a constituent, creating a package that voters would choose. Due to the inability of the opposition parties to field strong GRC teams due to either political intimidation or insufficient funds, voters feel pressured to negatively select the PAP GRC team. This partially explains why the PAP won only 60.14% of the popular vote, while winning 81 out of 87 (93.10%) parliamentary seats. For the Tanjong Pagar GRC led by none other than Lee Kuan Yew the man himself, the PAP won by a walkover! This means no opposition parties fielded any teams there. Incredulous is the word.
By now, I hope you have a good sense as to the problems plaguing Singapore politics. To tackle the issues relating to groupthink, moral hazard and adverse selection, here are my
recommendations for the PAP and Singaporeans, all relating to the upcoming election as this is how these problems need to be attacked first. We cannot run without being able to walk. I can provide hundreds of recommendations, but without mandate, none of them would ever be implemented. Right now the undisputed mandate rests with the PAP. To get mandate to make Singapore better, you need viable opposition parties and candidates in place.
1) Diversity required. In order to have better checks and balances in parliament, it is necessary to get a diversity of views during parliamentary debates and discussions. It will not happen as long as the PAP continues to be this dominant. Ideally we would have preferred that only 60.14% of the parliamentary seats = 52 were won by the PAP. This means that the opposition parties are too fragmented to field solid candidates independently, thus fraying the voter base. The opposition parties would most likely need to consolidate to be able to contest against the PAP. And Singaporeans, this is another reason to please vote for the opposition parties!
2) Scrap the GRC system. This is a unfair fight that smaller opposition parties would not be able to win, without consolidation. Let's fight mono e mono. In many Western democracies, a GRC is unheard of, unless you live in a country called Lebanon or Djibouti.
3) Independence and transparency. More transparency from the PAP is required when it comes to re-drawing electoral boundaries; they can pretty much do whatever they want to secure the next election victory. Currently, this process, called delimitation, have several flaws:
- Lack of legal framework
- Lack of independence of election officials: they are appointed by the PMO
- Lack of transparency: opposition parties are not involved in redistricting, and the courts are not involved
See the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network for more information on re-drawing election boundaries.
From the recommendations above, I realize that #2 and #3 are only possible once PAP no longer have a supermajority or even a majority. This means it is even more critical than ever for Singapore politics to have other voices heard now, more than ever. Otherwise we'll all be swimming with 6.9 million people soon enough on this small little island. Now, a thought to keep you sleeping soundly at night: Singapore will not fall even if the PAP loses power.
National Slavery
*The author blogs at
http://renounce-sg.blogspot.com