S'pore mulls overseas voting, election rumors gather pace
S'pore mulls overseas voting, election rumors gather pace
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has fueled speculation of an early election, saying a decision will be made this year on extending the vote to overseas nationals.
Signaling a shift in the law that limits voting to citizens "ordinarily resident" in Singapore, Lee said the government was re-examining the eligibility criteria.
Speculation is rife in the city-state that the next general election will be much earlier than the deadline of August 2002, and there has been no attempt by the government to deny suggestions in the local media that the poll will be this year.
In a speech on voting rights on Tuesday night, Lee said the overseas voting issue would be resolved this year, but in the Straits Times on Wednesday he fudged on whether this would affect the next election, saying "that depends on whether the elections are this year or not."
A review of overseas voting follows an active campaign by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) to extend its support base since Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told grassroots members last month to make early preparations and not wait until an election was called.
The PAP has thrown aside much criticized practices by widening the pool of people who can nominate party leaders to include its women's and youth wings, and saying it was now prepared to field qualified singles and divorcees as candidates.
Lee, a son of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew and named by Goh as his preferred successor, said the question of overseas voting had been repeatedly raised, but had been rejected because of practical difficulties and deciding who should have the vote.
"But as the number of Singaporeans abroad increases year by year, we will feel more keenly the lack of arrangements for them to vote.
"So the government is now re-examining the problem, to see how arrangements can be made for overseas voting, and what the eligibility criteria should be for deciding which overseas Singaporeans may vote," he said.
"We aim to have the study and -- if we proceed -- the new legislation done by this year."