IPS Forum on The Roles, Responsibilities and Power of the Elected President

Attended the IPS Forum on The Roles, Responsibilities and Power of the Elected President yesterday. You can read about the forum in today's papers. The coverage is not 100% though. 

There were 3 speakers, K Shanmugam (Minister of Law & Foreign Affairs), Tommy Koh (Special Adviser to IPS), and Thio Li-Ann (Faculty of Law, NUS).

It started with presentations by the 3 speakers.

Apart from the content of their presentation, what struck me most were the following:

(A) Average age of the forum attendees was at least 45 years old
Unlike the earlier IPS forum on What Youth Want, this forum was attended by many old(er) people. The average age of the What Youth Want attendees was probably around early 30s.

I'm sure IPS sent out the email invites to a similar bunch of people for both forums.

The profile of the attendees is somewhat representative of the level and type of interest in the topic held by Singaporeans as a a whole.

(B) Lack of understanding of what the Elected President can/cannot do under the Constitution
Compounded by (A), it is safe to extrapolate that if one votes for the President in hope that he will be able to be an opposition voice, one is going to be disappointed.

This disappointment will in turn create and/or add to the rising unhappiness.

This situation is created by 2 parties unable to communicate fully on this issue. Avoiding efforts to communicate, while holding onto desire to feel angry with each other.

(C) In his official capacity, the President is NOT allowed to affect the direction of progress publicly.
What the Presidency is designed to do, is clearly outlined.

E.g. the President can block attempts by the government of the day to draw down past reserves it did not accumulate.
However, this does not mean that the President can voice his opinion on how the reserves are managed.

In other words, there are clear and few 'green-light areas/things' which the President 'can do'. Then there are the 'negative areas' which are not spelled out clearly. These areas range from the grey to the pitch black vortexes.

To me, it is not clear what will happen to a President if he attempts to muck around in the 'negative areas'.

Regardless, what's clear is that if the President feels strongly about an issue with the 'negative areas', he can do so by speaking to the Prime Minister in confidence.

(It seems it is also inappropriate for the President to highlight publicly that he had spoken to the PM about XYZ issue, without revealing the discussion details.)

Alternatively, he can raise issues publicly, but only in his personal capacity, AFTER he steps down from his role as President. E.g. If he has certain 'star power', he can use it to raise public awareness on issues.

Can a former President or Presidential candidate run as a Member of Parliament after his attempt at the Presidency?