Alternative to Wesern Confrontational opposition politics

• robertteh

  30 Oct 07, 21:46

  It is a good idea to look for alternative to our Opposition Politics which is currently not doing too well due to diverse reasons.
  
  The traditional Opposition system or multi-party political system in the Western societies is not necessarily the only mechanism to check on government.
  
  The opposition politicians tend to over-shallow all other forms of check and balance mechanisms because it has been recognised that one day sooner or later the losing politicians may take over and form an alternative government in the next election if the incumbent is not doing a good job.
  
  If we consider the business of government probably finding another party to take over is not necessarily the only way to political evolution and self-renewal. In fact such a bi-polar political system might lead to instability and in-fighting and divide the nation and tear the fabric of society.
  
  Whichever is the party forming the government may not be as critical and important as who is the next potential PM and who are the key ministers in the new cabinet.
  
  We the people need to be creative and think out of the old box of bi-polar political system - the ruling party and an opposition with potential to take over.
  
  Because of the bi-polar system many good people with potential to take an active role in checking on the government and tempering its policies and actions may not come forth and be allowed to take an active part.
  
  That may be the reason why we have so little opposition talents and whatever little we have are being checkmated by the ruling party's self-serving narrow brand of politics geared at ensuring its own survival.
  
  If we really want to look for alternative system of check and balance minus all the factionalism and confrontations and divisiveness we should look for a viable alternative to what we are having now.
  
  The next question to ask is who are our alternative voices of the people?
  
  Traditionally the newspapers, community leaders, network of institutions would serve as the source of alternative views and information to check on the government. These groups of people if connected to or appointed by the government one way or another may be too conservative and may represent only the middle ground from past experiences.
  
  If we have to have a more effective check and balance we should look into creating a new institution to be filled by people who are truly independent, objective and well-informed active citizens with useful views to correct and check on government policies and decisions.
  
  To ensure such objective alternative checking mechanism we could perhaps create 84 such positions to sit alongside the ruling parliamentarians whereby all bills are discussed with inputs from such people who shall have their respective voting right pegged at a high enough percentage in order not to tie the hand of incumbent government which no doubt has a positive role to play.
  
  Three categories pf representatives could be created - one third of whom of which can be nominated by professional organizations, one third by popular votes (voted in election proper) and remaining one third by outstanding social critics with proven influential views and opinions nominated by a certain selection panel formed by independent non-partitioned people.
  
  Taking into account our present lack of check and balance mechanism in our political system it is time we arrive at our own model of truly useful and relevant system of check and balance on the government.
  
  With such a system offering truly substantial views and alternative solutions to problems there will be no need to keep harping about our lack of talents as such a body could easily be established which will give our million-dollar ministers a run of their own presumptuous world-class salaries.
  
  We can also avoid having to face with dirty politics of all kinds including so many defamation suits to checkmate the opposition politicians.
  
  Whoever perform well in our non-partition political system will over time be eligible to join the government and be invited to be ministers in the ruling party cabinet without all the opposition emotion coming into play.
  
  With such self-renewal process our politics will gradually become non-partitioned and non-party based.
  
  So it will be a win-win situation for our political evolution to meet our own needs and circumstances.
  
  This way there will be no need for fractious partitioned political infighting which tend to divide resulting. The ruling party will then be able to focus on its job and not having to come up with so many dirty political tricks to get back at the opposing politicians.
  
  The success of such a self-check institution depends on the selection and nomination process in choosing such representatives. Such representatives should not be chosen by the politicians but by the people based on their perceptions of their past views and opinions on government.
  
  Such representatives can be selected by an independent panel formed by the people from a large cross section of society.
  
  Those who could really contribute must act as the voices of conscience of the people and should include outstanding social activists with good and informed views and opinions on widest possible backgrounds to check on the large areas of government.
  
  Even if our opposition members fail we could always count on such representatives to act for the people. These representatives have certain voting right but their votes should not be such as to overwhelm the ruling party.
  
  Their total dissenting votes could be limited to one third of total seats as their votes are merely aimed at expressing their alternative solutions and not necessarily at overturning decisions of government so that it is truly recognized as a mentoring alternative self-check mechanism.
  
• Poh Ah Pak

  30 Oct 07, 22:14

  Alternative views are worthless if you don't wield power to implement the policies.
  
  Singapore already has the so-called nominated member of parliament scheme to provide "alternative" views.
  
  Did it affect policy?
  
  See:
  
  http://siewkumhong.blogspot.com
• robertteh

  30 Oct 07, 22:25

  Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:

  Alternative views are worthless if you don't wield power to implement the policies.
  
  Singapore already has the so-called nominated member of parliament scheme to provide "alternative" views.
  
  Did it affect policy?
  
  See:
  
  http://siewkumhong.blogspot.com

  NMPs are not independent as the ruling party has a hand in nominating and appointing them. Established government-connected social activists are also not effective because they have the quiet support and were often used by the government to give support to their own policies.
  
  A truly independent parliamentary body nominated from effective social activists who are not the politicians standing for election will provide an alternative which will be more respected by citizens.
  
  When sitting alongside the ruling parliament with voting right such a body will help to defer bills back to the drawing board where 1/3 of them have expressed reservation or dissent in the first reading for reconsideration and this will help to prevent autocracy which has caused rising costs of living and many other problems attributable to lack of check on the government under the present circumstances.
  
  Upon the 2nd reading the alternative parliamentarians will have to right to stop the bill only with a higher dissenting vote of 2/3 ie. to ensure the business of government will be given priority and not be affected by disagreement for the sake of disagreement. Such detailed consideration in making the alternative mentoring parliamentary body work in practice has to be crafted out carefully to suit our need for check and balance without affecting important government business.
  
  When there is such a carefully established alternative parliamentary body acting as a tempering of harsh or over-zealous policies and decisions of government it will serve the greatest interest of the greatest number and help to prevent autocratic decision making and confrontational system of government.
  
  So as long as there is a lack of accountability in the current autocracy and there is no effective opposition, it would be a win-win situation to work towards establishing such an influential parallel parliamentary body to offer check and balance and possible to provide continuity in securing future government without necessarily following the bi-polar opposition system adopted by the west.