- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
- Messages
- 4,480
- Points
- 113
[h=3]The labour movement will take a consensus-building approach to the upcoming presidential election when deciding whether to endorse a candidate or who to endorse, said labour chief Lim Swee Say today. <!-- story content : start -->[/h]
THE labour movement will take a consensus-building approach to the upcoming presidential election when deciding whether to endorse a candidate or who to endorse, said labour chief Lim Swee Say on Thursday.
There are several possible scenarios, Mr Lim added. The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) may decide to back a candidate if there is enough consensus among its 60 affiliated unions. Or various unions may end up backing different candidates. Mr Lim was speaking to reporters after the labour movement's first National Day observance ceremony.
He also said the NTUC has decided on building consensus instead of its top-down approach in the past because the current five presidential hopefuls are not from the labour movement.
The NTUC had backed its former secretary-general Ong Teng Cheong in 1993 and former Labour Research Unit director SR Nathan in 1999 for the presidency, in light of their ties with the labour movement.
To help unionists know and understand candidates better, the NTUC will hold more consultation and may even invite other presidential hopefuls if there are requests for a dialogue with them, said Mr Lim. Earlier this week, former Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan, a contender for the Elected Presidency, held a dialogue with union leaders.
The labour chief added that the NTUC is taking a strong interest in the Presidential Election as it believes the next Elected President must be able to raise Singapore's standing internationally and unite Singaporeans in an increasingly competitive global landscape.
<!-- story content : end -->
<IFRAME style="WIDTH: 110px; HEIGHT: 20px" class="twitter-share-button twitter-count-horizontal" title="Twitter For Websites: Tweet Button" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.html#_=1312462910340&count=horizontal&id=twitter_tweet_button_0&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.straitstimes.com%2FBreakingNews%2FSingapore%2FStory%2FSTIStory_698395.html&text=Unions%20can%20back%20different%20candidates%3A%20NTUC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.straitstimes.com%2FBreakingNews%2FSingapore%2FStory%2FSTIStory_698395.html&via=cmswire" frameBorder=0 allowTransparency scrolling=no></IFRAME><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></SCRIPT>
Share3<SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share"></SCRIPT>
THE labour movement will take a consensus-building approach to the upcoming presidential election when deciding whether to endorse a candidate or who to endorse, said labour chief Lim Swee Say on Thursday.
There are several possible scenarios, Mr Lim added. The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) may decide to back a candidate if there is enough consensus among its 60 affiliated unions. Or various unions may end up backing different candidates. Mr Lim was speaking to reporters after the labour movement's first National Day observance ceremony.
He also said the NTUC has decided on building consensus instead of its top-down approach in the past because the current five presidential hopefuls are not from the labour movement.
The NTUC had backed its former secretary-general Ong Teng Cheong in 1993 and former Labour Research Unit director SR Nathan in 1999 for the presidency, in light of their ties with the labour movement.
To help unionists know and understand candidates better, the NTUC will hold more consultation and may even invite other presidential hopefuls if there are requests for a dialogue with them, said Mr Lim. Earlier this week, former Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan, a contender for the Elected Presidency, held a dialogue with union leaders.
The labour chief added that the NTUC is taking a strong interest in the Presidential Election as it believes the next Elected President must be able to raise Singapore's standing internationally and unite Singaporeans in an increasingly competitive global landscape.
<!-- story content : end -->
<IFRAME style="WIDTH: 110px; HEIGHT: 20px" class="twitter-share-button twitter-count-horizontal" title="Twitter For Websites: Tweet Button" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.html#_=1312462910340&count=horizontal&id=twitter_tweet_button_0&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.straitstimes.com%2FBreakingNews%2FSingapore%2FStory%2FSTIStory_698395.html&text=Unions%20can%20back%20different%20candidates%3A%20NTUC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.straitstimes.com%2FBreakingNews%2FSingapore%2FStory%2FSTIStory_698395.html&via=cmswire" frameBorder=0 allowTransparency scrolling=no></IFRAME><SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></SCRIPT>
Share3<SCRIPT type=text/javascript src="http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share"></SCRIPT>
It's all part of the game! TKL although hailing from NTUC has more or less alienated himself from the PAP government by his freindly overtures to the opposition whereas TT is a diehard lifetime PAP miw. No brainer. Build what consensus arh? Very cheem.
