We Do Not Elect Our PM

After Barack Obama's historical election win to become the first African-American US President, the press and government in Singapore have been talking about whether it's possible that a non-Chinese can become Prime Minister. PM Lee said: "It's possible. It depends on how people vote, on who has the confidence of the population. Will it happen soon? I don't think so, because you have to win votes. And these sentiments - who votes for whom, and what makes him identify with that person - these are sentiments which will not disappear completely for a long time, even if people do not talk about it, even if people wish they did not feel it."

A forum letter, "We're more race-blind than we think", published in The Straits Times today, however, pointed out that the Prime Minister is not elected by the people.

I READ with interest Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's comments on Sunday about how Singapore's race relations interplayed with our domestic politics ('Non-Chinese PM? Possible, but not soon'). While I applaud the call to place our national interests over racial ones, I wonder if the choice really lies with the people or if our political structure itself entrenches such racial policies.

First, Article 25 of the Constitution designates the President as the one appointing the Prime Minister out of those elected into Parliament, who 'is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Members of Parliament'. It would thus appear that the choice of a non-Chinese PM lies not in the people's hands, but in the hands of the President and our elected Parliament.

Second, Article 39A and the subsequently passed Parliamentary Elections Act provide for the creation of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) - and the law provides for the compulsory inclusion of a Malay or an Indian or 'other minority'. A reason offered in support of the system was given by then deputy PM Goh Chok Tong in 1988, who argued that such a system would ensure that Parliament would 'always be multiracial and representative of our society'.

Tris Pruetthipunthu