The Workers' Party (WP) is not endorsing any of the three candidates in Singapore's presidential election 2023, and will not call its members or volunteers to assist in any official capacity.
Instead, WP holds that the position of the elected presidency should be abolished in favour of a ceremonial presidency, and it believes the current qualifying criteria for candidates skews towards "PAP-approved candidates."
On Aug. 30, WP shared a post on Facebook, in response to media queries, confirming that it does not endorse any presidential candidate.
It said that its position on the elected presidency has been set out in the party manifesto, parliamentary debates and a 2016 submission to a Constitutional Commission on the Elected Presidency.
The post also included links to the manifesto and the submissions to the Constitutional Commission.
The WP's position as laid out in the manifesto is that the president should be appointed by Parliament, while giving considerations to qualifications like "the multiracial character of our society."
It added:
"The President should not be tasked to safeguard the past reserves and the integrity of the public service. Instead, a separate Senate should be established and directly elected by the people to exercise all the discretionary powers currently vested in the Elected President. Parliament should be able to overturn any Senate veto with a three-quarters majority."
"Skewed towards PAP-approved candidates": WP
The WP also added that it believes the current qualifying criteria is "skewed towards PAP-approved candidates".
It added that it believes the Elected Presidency in its current form "undermines parliamentary democracy".
Under the current qualifying criteria, a candidate must be a Singaporean citizen, a resident of Singapore of at least 10 years, be a person of "integrity, good character and reputation" and at least 45 years old.
Aside from the basic criteria, candidates must either satisfy the requirements of either the public sector or private sector track.
For the private sector track, for example:
"Under Article 19(4)(a), you must have served at least three years as the chief executive of a company with at least S$500 million in average shareholders’ equity. Your company also can’t fall below the S$500 million valuation during the most recent three-year period of your term."
The WP added:
"(The Elected Presidency) also serves as an unnecessary source of gridlock - one that could potentially cripple a non-PAP government within its first term - and is an alternative power centre that could lead to political impasses."
WP does not call on members or volunteers to officially assist candidates
The statement added that the WP does not call upon its members or volunteers to assist presidential candidates in any official capacity.
The statement comes after a statement from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) on Aug. 29, after volunteers received an email on the night of Aug. 27 that asked them to sign up as counting agents for presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian.
In response, PSP released a statement that the party has no plans to endorse any presidential candidate.
It added that the email was drafted by an individual, without naming the person, and that the piece of communication was not approved.
Earlier in the day of Aug. 27, party chairman Tan Cheng Bock endorsed Tan Kin Lian for the presidency, although he stressed that he was doing so in his personal capacity.
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan said this morning that he will vote for Tan Kin Lian, despite "all his foibles" and transgressions.
You can see the Facebook post below:
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Left photo via WP/Facebook, right photo via Singapore Tourism Board