Does it matter who becomes President of Singapore?
By Andrew Loh
Now that President SR Nathan has confirmed he will not be seeking a third term in office, the presidential race looks like it will be fought between three former People's Action Party (PAP) members. The presidential hopefuls are: Dr Tan Cheng Bock, former PAP Member of Parliament (MP); Dr Tony Tan, former Deputy Prime Minister; and Mr Tan Kin Lian, former chief executive officer of NTUC Income.
All three have been quick to pledge independence from their former party, when they announced their intentions to seek the office of the Elected President. Dr Tony Tan, especially, having been a minister who held several portfolios including that of Deputy Prime Minister and several years more as deputy chairman and executive director of the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC), will have to show how his previous positions will not be a factor in exercising independent thought and decisions if he were president.
The elected president's role in protecting Singapore's massive reserves is one of his key and most important responsibilities in safeguarding Singapore's future. The government's reluctance to divulge more information about the reserves has made the president's role even more critical. The GIC and its sister investment arm of the government, Temasek Holdings, have been criticised regularly for being non-transparent, despite defence of them by government ministers.
As far back as 2008, then Minister of State for Finance, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, said in response to a question at a forum with Young NTUC members:
"You asked how much reserves we have. I'm sorry — I am not able to give you that answer. There are many, many people who are interested in how much we have. It has nothing to do with not wanting Singaporeans to know. It's only if we go public with you, a lot of other people will know." - Minister of State for Finance Lim Hwee Hua, Channel NewsAsia, March 15 2008.
In 2009, she again rejected calls for more information on the government's investments.
"We have to ask ourselves if transparency is an end in itself, or if it is the means to an end… If all our cards are revealed in pursuit of complete transparency, does that serve the purpose of having Temasek and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation manage the reserves well?" (Today)
Questions about the reserves
So, what can the president do if the government refuses to provide details of its investments or of the reserves themselves?
Singapore's late President Ong Teng Cheong, who was the first elected president of the country, had sought to know and understand where the government had parked its investments, but he was told that it would take "56 man-years" for the government to compile a listing.
His successor, the current incumbent, has been in office for two 6-year terms but has not raised as many questions about the reserves as President Ong.
In 2009, President Nathan consented to the government's request to make a drawdown of some "S$1.1 billion for FY 2008 and S$3.8 billion for FY 2009." (NLB) These were to fund the Jobs Credit scheme and the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative which the government wanted to implement to help Singapore through the financial crisis. The president's consent is required by law before such withdrawal is allowed.
The three candidates who are seeking Singaporeans' mandate to assume the presidential post have made their independence the central plank on which they will campaign. But all three having been PAP men have raised questions about how much they will or are willing to probe the government on the matter of the reserves.
Interestingly, in a Yahoo! poll, it is Dr Tony Tan — the former deputy chairman and executive director of the GIC — who emerged as the favourite among readers for the president's job. At 48 percent, he is far ahead of Dr Tan Cheng Bock and Mr Tan, who polled 16 percent and 18 percent respectively.
Dr Tony Tan, when asked about the GIC's disclosure of information, said: "It is the Government's prerogative, not GIC's prerogative, to reveal details of the GIC portfolio. This is in the same way a bank will not disclose details of your bank account and transactions without your permission."
The GIC has only one client — the Singapore Government.
Examining the role of the President
The question some have is thus: If it is only the government which has the prerogative to reveal details of GIC's investments, where does the president come in? What is the president able to do?
While the president is given the audited annual accounts of GIC and Temasek Holdings, he does not issue any public statements on these, on whether he is satisfied with the information he is given, or any concerns he may have about the investments or the state of the reserves. Indeed, he presumably does not have the authority to question the investments, given that the two wealth management entities do not answer to the president but to the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Tan, in a statement on the president's role vis a vis the reserves, which is partly made up of CPF contributions from ordinary Singaporeans, suggested "that the Elected President Office should produce an annual report showing the reserves of Singapore." Such a report, he says, "should also show the obligation of the Government and should include the balances held by the people held in the Central Provident Fund and also the bonds and guarantees issued by the Government."
Such a move for the president to issue his own statement on the reserves will most probably be dismissed by the government, and it is unclear if the president has the authority for such an undertaking. While a presidential statement on the reserves would be welcomed by the public, it would, given the government's stance on secrecy as expressed by Mrs Lim previously, be of great concern to the government for reasons Mrs Lim has stated.
It would thus seem that the matter of the president's role and responsibility regarding the reserves will continue to be an issue, no matter who eventually assumes the office at the Istana as Singapore's seventh president.
What could give rest to Singaporeans' concern is for the government and the two wealth management funds to be more open and forthcoming about the state of the reserves and their investments.
Short of these, the president's role will always be in question, no matter who holds the highest office in the land.
Andrew is the co-founder of a socio-political website and writes frequently on issues which are close to his heart, particularly those affecting the less fortunate and on Singapore politics.
