PM in an recent interview in London talked about the possibility of Singapore having a coalition government in the future.
Dr Tan Cheng Bock, in his FB post, also commented on the theme of a coalition government.
Click on https://www.facebook.com/TanChengBock
According to Dr Tan, when no single political party has a majority of parliamentary seats in a General Election, the only way to form a government is for the party with the most seats to invite other minority seat parties to join it to make up the numbers to form a majority .
The smaller minority parties will set conditions to join. There will be a lot of horse trading and bargaining for ministerial posts and other key appointments. So you might get a DPM from a minority party or a finance minister from yet another party, as seen in many countries with coalition governments.
If this is possible, it will be possible for opposition party candidates to finally hold full Ministerial positions, and not some paper generals who parachute themselves into government ministries.
All opposition parties in Singapore share common ground - affordable healthcare, affordable public housing, better transport infrastructure and reduction of immigrants. So I don't see why they cannot work together towards a common goal. All of these parties have said in their 2011 rallies that their party interests are not as important as Singaporeans interest so they should be working together for the common good.
With anti-PAP sentiment at an all time high, it is possible that a coalition government will be formed.
Below are some possibilities that I can think of. Feel free to disagree or add comments.
1) Minister for National Development. Currently held by Khaw Boon Wan, I feel that WP's Md Faisal can be up for the task. Md Faisal has a background in civil engineering which is important to understand the technicalities of HDB, NParks and BCA's tasks. Md Faisal was also part of HDB's technical officer before he left to study psychology and worked in a volunteer welfare organisation. I believe that he can empathise with low income families who need affordable HDB flats.
2) Minister for Foreign Affairs. Currently held by K Shammugam, WP's Pritam Singh has a background in political science and law to understand the sensitivities of the neighbouring countries. Pritam also has strong foundation in Islamic studies which can serve him well when it comes to international law boundaries meetings with Malaysia or Indonesia.
3) Minister for Health. Currently held by Gan Kim Yong. Gan Kim Yong has an engineering background so I also don't know why he was made Manpower Minister and then Minister for Health. I strongly believe that to be an effective Minister for Health, one has to have a sound knowledge of medicine, patient care and hospital management to be able to empathise. I believe Dr Lily Neo is able to do it. She once crossed fire with Vivian Balakrishnan over the subsidies for the low income and has used her own salary to help her needy residents. If only she can consider switching sides and be the real change and join opposition politics someday.
4) Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts. Currently held by Yaccob Ibrahim. I support Nicole Seah to be the Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts. Nicole Seah studied mass communications and media. She was also being victimised by SPH after she was wrongly accused of being in the mistress to a married man. With her being in charge, she might push for more transparency and improve SPH's 154th ranking in Press Freedom.
5) Minister for Law. Currently held by K Shanmugam. I believe Jeanette Chong Aruldoss can excel in this. She started her law career in Allen Gledhill and then opened up her own firm to handle civil, commercial and criminal law. She achieved a decent showing of more than 40 per cent when she stood in GE2011. I believe that she can be elected if she, Nicole Seah were to stand in a GRC in GE2016.
6) Minister for Manpower. Currently held by Tan Chuan Jin. Many netizens have blasted this paper general for not knowing the groundwork and was instantly promoted to Minister level, while all the PAP women MPs had to sit and watch their opportunities being passed over by Tan Chuan Jin. Gilbert Goh, the founder of transitioning.org, is a suitable candidate for this post. He is no stranger for his protests on May Day, White Paper Speakers Corner protest and his pro-Singaporean, pro-work life balance approach. He was formerly an employee of WDA and have counselled jobless Singaporeans before. If he were to join Nicole Seah once again in Tampines GRC, he will stand a good chance of being in Parliament.
7) Minister for Transport. Currently held by Navy general Lui Tuck Yew who has been grappling with crowded trains that malfunction every month, I believe that things will be smoother if we had a Minister from an engineering background. We all know how a non-technocrat Saw Paik Hwa who knows nuts about engineering can do to SMRT, so we really need someone with a strong engineering background to steer our public transport out from its current troubles.
Gerald Giam or Yee Jen Jong, being computer science engineering trained may be suitable for this position.
8) Minister for Education. Currently held by Heng Swee Keat. Png Eng Huat once asked Heng about the amount of money spent on foreign students and received an evasive answer from Heng. If voters and Singapore citizens really want to know the answer, we must make Png Eng Huat the Education Minister so that he can flip through the books and let us know the million dollar answer to this question. Png was also not a good student and an average student to begin with so this is one man that can empathise with kiasu parents.
9) Minister for Trade and Industry. Currently held by Lim Hng Kiang. Hazel Poa was previously a PSC scholar and worked with Ministry for Finance. She has run a successful chain of SmartLab tuition centres with her husband. It takes an entrepreneur and someone good with finance figures to be the Minister for Trade and Industry.
10) Minister for Finance. Currently held by Tharman. Many netizens have blasted Tharman for his Indian accounts, $1000 can buy HDB flat theory. I support Leong Sze Hian in this role. Nobody is as passionate about financial literacy, Budget debate or finance issues than Leong Sze Hian. Leong Sze Hian has been Chiam See Tong's SPP Financial Literacy Program. His blog leongszehian.com has always raised questions about finance related issues from HDB, CPF and MAS and has groomed 2 worthy disciples Roy Ngerng and Han Hui Hui. There is talk that Leong Sze Hian may join Chiam See Tong in the GRC in the upcoming GE2016 and we hope that this will materialise.
11) Minister for Social and Family Development. Currently held by another army general Chan Chun Sing, I believe that this role should go to Lina Chiam. Lina Chiam was once ridiculed by PAP supporters for having no depth and speaks like an auntie with no graduate qualifications but as an NCMP, she has left no stones unturned and raised issues pertaining to social welfare and family matters. She might have supporters in SPP to help her craft her Parliament speeches or her husband Chiam See Tong but then again, if she can be popular enough to let her supporters craft her speeches, it shows that she is in a position to handle a Ministerial portfolio even without a tertiary degree.
12) Minister for Defence and Minister for Home Affairs. Aung San Suu Kyi once said that military people should do what they are supposed to do and stay out of Parliament, so I agree that Tan Chuan Jin and Chan Chun Sing should their jobs in these 2 areas and not interfere with Manpower or Social Family Development.
13) Deputy Prime Minister. I may want to nominate either Low Thia Kiang or Chen Show Mao. But then again, it might not be the best interests to have a WP majority in Parliament. We need someone who can truly support the Prime Minister and but on the other hand, provide some political competition in Parliament. I support Tan Jee Say but some netizens said that his alliance to SDP and his Presidential bid may have hurt his public image.
14) Prime Minister. Sylvia Lim. Yes, most netizens will agree that Singapore is ready for a female Prime Minister but not from PAP. She has paid her dues as an NCMP in 2006 and by 2016, she should be ready for Prime Minister position, unless the upcoming NEA Court Trial fixes her in her political career.
And the best thing is that Sylvia Lim is single and without children so any rumours of nepotism cannot be true.
President: Tan Cheng Bock. 5 Years ago, we failed to make him the President and the next round, we must support this worthy candidate to be our President.
The President in a coalition government must stay absolutely neutral and show no favour to any coalition partner. He must not be seen to be affiliated to a political party. His integrity and honesty must be beyond question. He must be someone whose main concern is the people’s interest and not that of any coalition party.
This person shall be Dr Tan Cheng Bock.
However, should this day happen, we may have to dismiss and terminate the high ranking civil servants with pro-PAP tendencies. We have seen how pro-PAP grassroots leaders have created a storm in the teacup over the NEA Spring Cleaning saga. While coalition government is desirable, we must fix high ranking civil servants and replace them with neutral civil servants who passion is to serve the public, regardless of any political affliations.
CJ
TRS Contributor