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."