Re: UNELECTED Speaker doesn't understand her role as champion of ALL Backbenchers in
Hi Rumpole,,,in Oz, the speaker is appointed by the majority party. Unless the ruling party is a minority,it might ask the opposition to supply the candidate for Speaker,,either way, I dont see the difference between the system of Oz and singapore as winning party will supply candidate. and it will be accepted. only problem is with a minority government. Just my rants
Hi there. We don't necessarily have to follow Oz. Our Ministars, Speakers, etc are paid highest in the world, because they claim to be the best and always have the interest of the people at heart. So, by right, they should search the world and come up to with a system that is the bestest and fairest for an educated and highly demanding electorate. In the UK, the election of the Speaker under new rules came about as a result of a scandal during Brown's days as PM. Under these new rules, the vote is secret and the Whip is not in force.
The problem in Sinkieland is that one party dominates, that party is Leninist in structure and undemocratic so a family and its friends can dominate that party and thus the State, no free press, etc. If on top of these, you add an unelected Speaker with wide discretion to bend the rules of Parliament in favour of that dominant party, what you have is little different from a dictatorship. In Oz, no one party dominates, the press is free, the parties themselves do not have a Leninist internal structure, etc. Under such conditions, even an appointed Speaker does not dare to be biased for the press, other media, educated and vocal electorate, etc will tear him/her to pieces if he/she goes too far.
