More and more Singaporeans are wising up. The need for checks and balances on the Government is very much on the minds of Singaporeans when they vote for their Member of Parliament, according to a Straits Times survey. It is ranked very important by 35 per cent of the people asked to rate the importance of six factors in their choice of MP. They form the biggest group. In contrast, fewer than 30 per cent view each of the other factors as very important. But going by mean scores, two factors are ranked equally as most important when electing an MP. These are: the need for checks and balances and a candidates attributes. Both have a mean score - which is the average of the spread of sentiments for a factor - of 4.11 out of 5, four being important and five being very important. Following them are three other factors: national policies and their impact on the voter (4.1), the candidates party (4.09) and the need for more alternative views in Parliament (4.05). Least important is local constituency issues (4.02). Political scientist Reuben Wong of National University of Singapore said voters emphasis on checks and balances is reflected in the Workers Partys (WP) electoral success since 2011. Campaigning on the theme of Towards a First World Parliament that year, the WP became the first opposition party to win a group representation constituency, the five-seat Aljunied GRC. Later, it also won by-elections in Hougang and Punggol East, both single-seat constituencies. Noting that the WP had found an effective formula, Associate Professor Wong said: It seems the WP is reflecting a quite deeply held view that you get better government with checks and balances in place.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 14:59:52 +0000
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