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Singaporeans vote for ceremonial president after rare political scandals
Singaporeans have headed to the polls to vote in their first contested presidential election in over a decade.
The president has a mainly ceremonial role in the city-state with few powers and little say in public affairs.
But the result on Friday could be a marker of public sentiment on the long-term ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) following a string of MP scandals.
Leading candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam was a veteran minister of Singapore’s PAP. A former deputy prime minister and finance minister, the 66-year-old economist resigned from the People’s Action Party in June to contest the presidential election.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong heads the PAP, which suffered one of its worst electoral showings in 2020 although it still retained more than a two-thirds majority in parliament. This year the paty’s reputation has been damaged by a string of rare political scandals including a senior minister’s arrest in a corruption probe, as well as two lawmakers’ resignations over an extramarital affair.
Voters at polling stations told the BBC on Friday this could influence their vote. “I think at this election some voters are expressing how they feel about the PAP and some are voting for who they want. It’s 50-50 i would say,” businesswoman Ms Tong told the BBC. “But at least this time round people are more aware now of what the president can or cannot do.”
The president acts as the custodian of the city’s substantial financial reserves so Singapore requires its candidates to have either civil service or corporate experience.
Shanmugaratnam is the frontrunner in the vote, the first to be contested in more than a decade – after outgoing President Halimah Yacob declined to contest a second six-year term.The other candidates include Tan Kin Lian, a 75-year-old former insurance executive who has been criticised for social media posts he made in the past about women and Indians, and Ng Kok Song, a former wealth fund investment officer.
The candidates’ ethnicities in the multicultural but majority-Chinese city-state has been one of the issues too – with some highlighting Shanmugaratnam may become the first non-Chinese president to be elected by voters.
Voting is compulsory for Singapore’s 2.7 million eligible citizens.
(BBC)
The US has signed a deal with Ukraine on the joint exploitation of its energy and mineral resources, after months of tense negotiations.
The two countries have agreed to establish a reconstruction investment fund to spur Ukraine’s economic recovery from its war with Russia.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it showed both sides were committed to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. For Kyiv, the deal is seen as essential to accessing US military aid.
Ukraine is believed to have vast reserves of critical minerals like graphite, titanium and lithium. They are highly sought after because of their use in renewable energy, military applications and industrial infrastructure.
The agreement comes amid a US trade war with China, where 90% of the world’s current rare earth stocks are sourced.
According to the statement from the US Treasury on Wednesday afternoon, the newly created US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund recognises the “significant financial and material support” the US has given Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.
The US treasury secretary said in a video statement that the deal would help “unlock Ukraine’s growth assets”.
The language of the announcement shows much more solidarity with Ukraine than is usual for the Trump administration.
It refers to “Russia’s full scale invasion” and adds that “no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.
The Kremlin has not yet responded to the agreement.
[BBC]
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Let us work together, with unity and determination, to safeguard hard-won rights and rebuild the nation – PM
Prime Minister Dr Harini Amaraxuriya in her International Workers Day message called for everyone to work together, with unity and determination, to safeguard hard-won rights and rebuild the nation.
The full text of the Prime Minister’s message:
“Let us commemorate the 139th International Workers’ Day in a year marked by progress and under a government that represents the will of the people, putting an end to a painful chapter in history where the working class endured hardship, sacrifice, and struggle marked by blood and sweat.
Marking a historic turning point, we celebrate the May Day for this year under a people’s government that rises against five years of oppression by the ruling class, overthrowing corrupted politics.
Amidst nepotism, and political favoritism that subjected the working force to injustice, year 2024 marks a year of courageous decisions, a determined effort to rebuild a nation that was dragged into an abyss, overturning the entire political culture.
As a people’s government, recognizing the true needs of the people, we are making great efforts to guide the distorted economic, political, social, cultural, and moral frameworks of the country back onto a natural path.
Although it is not possible to change the deeply rooted corruption and injustices of this country overnight, the government is systematically restructuring and implementing structural reforms to receive the needs of the people.
A systematic program has been set up to strengthen the economic forces of all working people, including those in the state, private, business, and labor sectors, while also preparing to empower the farming community, who are taking the lead in making the country self-sufficient in food.
This is a time when we must dedicate ourselves and unite to ensuring the security, independence, and rights of the people, while building a more stable and trustworthy future.
Let us work together, with unity and determination, to safeguard hard-won rights and rebuild the nation.”
President Anura Kumara Disanayake has issued a message for international workers day which falls today [01st May]
The full text of the presidents message released by the President’s Media Division:
“On May 1st, 1886, during a protest in Haymarket Square, Chicago, workers who demanded an eight-hour workday, was violently confronted with gunfire. To pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in that fight, the Second International, convened in 1889, proclaimed May 1st as International Workers’ Day, which has been observed annually ever since.
This year, the working people of Sri Lanka, together with the general public, commemorate International Workers’ Day at a time when our nation and society are undergoing a profound and progressive transformation under a people-oriented governance bringing an end to a corrupt and elitist political system that has existed for 76 years, upheld by a rotating power structure dominated by a select few influential families across generations. At the recent presidential and parliamentary elections, people from all corners of Sri Lanka, regardless of ethnicity or religion, united to bring about a turning point in our nation’s politics. Responding to the people’s aspirations, we of the National People’s Power currently focused on developing a nation that is experiencing extensive economic, social and political transformation.
We have already succeeded in initiating a stable recovery of an economy that was dragged to the depths by corrupt and elitist system. The evident signs of advancement are now apparent to everyone. In our very first national budget, we made historic moves significantly increasing the minimum basic salary of public servants and extensive benefits for various segments of society, including farmers, fishing community, youth, women, students, producers, small-scale entrepreneurs and professionals alike. We are diligently addressing the persistent issues encountered by plantation workers and striving to guarantee their civil rights.
We recognize the necessity for a new phase in the rights we possess, aligned with the continuously evolving productive forces. Contemporary society demands a new era in human rights that encompasses digital access, environmental rights and other emerging rights that were not anticipated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These changes, along with evolving political frameworks and the worldwide call for peace, require a revised and comprehensive global declaration of human rights. As we commemorate this International Workers’ Day, we must remain sensitive to these needs and dedicated to addressing them.
In the face of global geopolitical shifts and growing challenges, it is the working people of Sri Lanka who continue to shoulder the burden of rebuilding our economy. As we restore and reform an economy devastated by decades of corrupt politics, I warmly invite our beloved working people to join hands in solidarity, to rise with determination and to strive towards building “a beautiful life and a thriving nation” for everyone. On this occasion, I offer my heartfelt best wishes for a meaningful International Workers’ Day one that reaffirms the rights and dignity of all working people.”
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