Almost the same number of people who voted for the opposition follow news on Elected Presidency

Blackbox, a Singapore-based agency which specialises in public policy research, did a survey on the proposed changes to the Elected Presidency (EP). Unsurprisingly their findings reveal that almost the same number of people who voted for the opposition in the last General Election and the recently concluded Bukit Batok By-Election, have followed the news about the EP in recent months.

About 30 percent of voters cast their votes for the opposition in the 2015 General Election, and almost 38 percent did the same at the Bukit Batok By-Election which concluded in May 2016. Blackbox findings show less than four in ten Singaporeans have followed the news on this issue in recent months.

Commenting on Blackbox’s poll on the topic opposition MP Pritam Singh said: “This is a most interesting observation of the survey in question. For an issue that has been characterized by the Law Minister as critical and about “the future, for the benefit of Singapore, our children and grandchildren”, it suggests a certain resignation among Singaporeans about their role in the political process.”

“Amongst those who have, it is clear that the majority are more focused on the President’s role as a financial protector of last resort. Findings also suggest that many Singaporeans are equally keen to see nominees who qualify based on previous community contribution and not solely on their track record in the private or public sector,” the research agency’s polling said.

“By the way, does anyone know if the White Paper has been translated to Mandarin, Malay and Tamil? One would think a significant constitutional amendment ought to justify it,” Mr Singh added.