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Singapore Democratic Party |
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What others say about our elections
"Citizens
of Singapore cannot democratically change their government."
"Most
importantly, a structurally independent election authority should
be established to conduct all electoral work and processes."
Asian Network for Free
Elections
"Opposition
parties had to confront several obstacles that impeded their
ability to participate effectively in the political process...The
challenges to Singapore's democratic activists include: changing
the electoral rules so that opposition parties can compete on a
level playing field..."
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Election
reform: What needs to be done
In
his speech at the election reform forum on Sunday organised by
the Singapore Democrats, Dr Chee Soon Juan pointed out several
activities that needed to be done in order to being about change
to our electoral system: Recruit and train poll watchers. Non-party poll watchers should be recruited and trained to observe the voting process. The effort should begin now so that enough volunteers can be recruited and be ready to be assigned to the various polling and counting stations when the next elections are called. Raise awareness. The reform agenda must necessarily include raising awareness among Singaporeans on the importance of revamping our horrendous election rules and procedures. This should start with the various communities such as university students, women's groups, NGOs, etc and then reaching out to the general public. Such an activity is needed in order to gain public support for the reform effort. Seek support from bloggers. The blogging community can play an active role in the campaign. Calls should be made to bloggers to help disseminate information about the problems about elections in Singapore and effort to institute changes. Seek international observers. Effort must be made to raise the profile of flawed elections in Singapore. Organisations like the United Nations, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Commission, International Federation for Election Systems, etc must be made aware of the situation here. They should also be encouraged to send teams to observe elections here. Learn from overseas reform campaigns. Reform campaigners should learn from activists in other jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and so on about some of the activities undertaken and the effectiveness.
Engage the Prime Minister's
Office and the Elections Department. Even though the
authorities would rather us disappear, a sustained effort must be
made to meet with them and impress upon them the necessity and
urgency for election reform.
Watch video clips of Dr Chee's
forum presentation here (courtesy of watchtowerv)
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