A Reluctant Candidate
OK, with the election of Obama we all know that democracy can claim to be somewhat restored in the U.S. So it’s time to turn our attention to other forms of democracy! I heard a story last night I thought I’d pass on about democracy in Singapore.
As you may know, the government in Singapore is an elected one. There is only one party, the PAP, and it’s done a good enough job that no serious opposition has reared its ugly head in over 38 years. So how can you have a proper election if both candidates are from the same party?
It’s a tricky question. So let’s go to the most recent election of the President of Singapore, Mr. Sellapan Rama Nathan. Mr. Nathan was first elected in 1999, and is currently serving his second term. I don’t know which election this story is from.
The candidates for the (largely ceremonial) position of President of Singapore were both hand-picked by the party. There were two; the man who was supposed to win, and the man who was supposed to run a convincing campaign to supply a respectable opposition candidate. My friend who told me this story is originally from the U.K., so he knows what a convincing opposition campaign looks like, and this wasn’t it. The appointed loser didn’t make much of an effort to put forth a platform or even ask for people’s votes. The Straits Times profiled him as “The Reluctant Candidate.” When asked by a TV interviewer if he actually wanted to win, he hemmed and hawed. When the question was repeated, he said something like, “Well, I don’t know, it’s not all that great being President.” He duly lost the election.
But he did his duty, made Singapore look democratic, and remained a faithful PAP member. And really, what else could he do? Run against his own party? What would happen if he won? My neighbor, who teaches film studies, senses a great movie in this. Anyone out there want to write the script?