An electoral season of distrust in Singapore

City-state’s presidential election is meant to be above the fray of party politics but the three-way race has been anything but

A three-way electoral contest for Singapore’s largely ceremonial presidency will come to a head when voters go to the polls on September 1. The race to clinch the non-partisan office has been notable for the emphasis that presidential contenders have placed on asserting their “independence” from the city-state’s long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

The elected president exercises limited custodial powers as the head of state and is expected to remain above the political fray. Yet analysts have observed rising anti-establishment sentiment in the campaign, with rival candidates accusing one another of polarizing voters by attempting to politicize what is supposed to be a staid exercise in national unity.

Former deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66, is widely regarded as the frontrunner and choice candidate of the PAP, which does not extend official endorsements as a matter of practice. Others in the race include Ng Kok Song, 75, the former chief investment officer at sovereign wealth fund GIC, and Tan Kin Lian, 75, a former chief executive of insurer NTUC Income.

“This election has largely been driven by strong candidates with rather disparate views on the role of the presidency, [with] some unfortunately [displaying] less understanding of the office of the presidency,” said Felix Tan, a political analyst at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) about policy changes advocated on the hustings which go beyond the president’s ambit.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

State polls highlight Anwar government weakness

Voters widely reject Anwar’s corruption-tainted UMNO coalition partner while ultraconservative PAS gains more grassroots ground

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration survived a key electoral test over the weekend, losing support to a conservative opposition bloc but maintaining its incumbency of state governments in midterm polls that nonetheless served as a sobering early referendum on his nine-month-old “unity” government.

The August 12 state elections resulted in a “3-3” outcome, meaning the Pakatan Harapan-led (PH) government and right-wing opposition alliance Perikatan Nasional (PN) each clinched three states out of the six that were up for election, with the latter making significant inroads nationwide in key Malay Muslim majority constituencies.

The results had broader implications, especially for the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and its main party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which won only 19 of the 108 seats it contested. Analysts see the electoral drubbing as further proof of UMNO’s diminished role as a national political force after its previous six decades of uninterrupted rule.

Calls for reform within UMNO have resurfaced amid its lackluster performance, which saw the party’s share of seats across six states fall by more than half from 41 with no wins in Malay-majority Terengganu or Kedah. The dismal showing has stoked speculation that deputy premier Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, UMNO’s embattled president, could face a leadership challenge.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.