This is a work-in-progress.
What is an election?
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office.
Public office can mean many different things. In Singapore we elect Members of Parliament, that’s it. And we elect our President. That’s it. (In the US, for example, they elect the President, senate, house, governors, mayors… very complicated.)
What is a Parliament? Why do we have one, actually?
The Parliament makes, passes, amends and repeals laws. The root word is “parlay”, which is French, meaning “to speak”. There’s a sense of “duelling” in there.
Like many modern Western-style democracies, we have a representative democracy– meaning we elect people to represent us in Parliament.
What does “unicameral” mean?
This one just means that our MPs make up a single chamber. There are some Parliaments that are more complicated– bicameral, with “upper houses” and “lower houses” and whatnot.
Singapore is simpler in this regard. Phew.
How does the Parliament even work? What is the process of making laws?
Members of Parliament of the ruling party are only allowed to propose new Bills, which are proposed laws. Parliament also passes Bills to fund government programmes and expenditures. These have to be done every year.
There are a number of parliamentary committees that discuss important issues of the day and are usually tied to the work of Ministries. The most well-known committee is probably the Committee of Supply which often has very hotly debated outcomes as it determines funding for all ministries and statutory boards.
Does the Parliament do anything other than make laws?
Technically Parliament is both a law making and law destroying body. It has the power to do both. Certain members of parliament are also selected to be Ministers and they are expected to run the ministries that they are assigned to so as to ensure that the government’s plans are carried out.
In Singapore, the MPs also manage towns…
Speaker of Parliament?
Fun fact – the Speaker of Parliament doesn’t actually have to be a Member of Parliament.
The Speaker cannot also be a Minister, so Halimah Yaacob resigned her Ministry post when she became Speaker.
The speaker used to wear a wig until 1993.
Nominated by the Prime Minister. Has two deputies.
Typically the Speaker of Parliament doesn’t participate in debates in parliament as her job is to remain impartial to the debate on the floor so that she can best manage the time. Usually the “election” of the speaker is unanimous as the person selected is somebody who has been in politics for a while and people respect her to run the august chamber.
Leader of the House? What is the House?
The “house” refers to parliament. The leader of the house is therefore a member of the dominant party in Parliament.
“Appointed by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the House is responsible for the arrangement of Government business and the legislative programme of Parliament. The Leader also proposes appropriate actions to be taken on any procedural matters arising in Parliament.
The Leader of the House moves procedural motions relating to the business of the House during sittings, such as to extend the times of sittings beyond the usual time as set out in the Standing Orders.”
Party Whip?
From Parliament’s site: “Party Whips ensure good communication within the party and contribute to the smooth running of the party’s parliamentary machinery. The Whip lists down the speakers for each item of business and estimates the time required so that everything can be completed within schedule.
Often regarded as the disciplinarians controlling MPs in their respective parties, the Whips ensure that there are always sufficient party members in the Chamber to support the party’s position and that MPs vote according to the party’s line. Occasionally, the Party Whip may “lift the whip” and allow MPs to vote according to their conscience.”
What is Singapore’s Constitution?
The Singaporean Constitution has gone through a number of iterations from when we were a Crown Colony, to when Singapore gained limited self governance, full self-governance, integration with Malaysia and finally independence. The final version being drafted in 1965 which was largely based on the 1963 version when we were part of Malaysia. However, over the preceding decades there have of course been dozens of amendments to the constitution to keep it updated or some might say more pliant to the ruling government’s needs.
The idea for a Westminster system to have a constitution is odd, though not anymore due to the many constitutions of the British Commonwealth countries. The British have never had a written constitution as they have a body of common law to fall back on to determine their rights and privilege that goes back to the signing of the Magna Carta. The British government probably fearing that as a young country without that long history of legal decisions to guide us, felt that a constitution in the style of the USA would be a lot clearer in stating what our country and what our citizens could do. It is also for this reason that our criminal laws were taken directly from the Indian Penal Code, though there too have been changes over the last few decades.
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What is the role of Singapore’s President? What’s the difference between President and Prime Minister?
The President is the Head of State and is responsible for the appointment of non-partisan positions like judges, the penultimate commander of the Singapore Armed Forces and the holder of the “second key” of Singapore’s past reserves (past reserves only, as reserves accumulated by a sitting government does not require Presidential approval to be used.) As the Head of State there are also other roles and responsibilities that need to be done. S.R. Nathan for example was used as a roving ambassador due to his previous career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Prime Minister is the head of the government. And he is responsible for the day to day running as well as all potential policy decisions that the government pursues.
What is the Cabinet?
The Cabinet is a subset of Parliament, and is responsible to it. It’s led by the Prime Minister, who is selected by the dominant party and is approved by the President.
What is a Party Whip?
Party Whips exist in all parties and are basically there to make sure that all the MPs in a particular party vote in a unified fashion. Sometimes, the whip is lifted so that party members can vote according to their own choices.
Fun Fact: Leader Of The Opposition
The leader of the opposition is usually the most senior member of the second largest party or coalition in parliament. There are no real requirements mandated for this position. But in most Westminster systems, the leader of the opposition is responsible for the establishment of a shadow cabinet.
What is a Constituency?
A constituency is the legal geographical boundary established to encompass a particular number of the electorate. In Singapore ratio of MPs to the Electorate is about 1:20000-37000 (with a plus/minus 30%) variability.
What is a GRC?
GRCs…
What is a Town Council?
A town council…
What is the relationship between GRCs and Town Councils?
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What is a stat board?
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