The Reform Of Singapore’s Political Election System And Ethnic Harmony

After the founding of Singapore,its political situation was turbulent,the economic power was weak,and it was isolated and helpless in the international community.For better survival and development in the Malay world,the Singapore government must properly handle the relations between ethnic groups.Respecting the cultures of ethnic groups,weakening ethnic differences,building national identity,and promoting a sense of belonging to the country have become the way of survival in the eyes of the ruling party in Singapore.The Singapore People;s Action Party advocates that regardless of ethnic groups,cultures,and religions,through policy guidance and institutional construction,eliminates ethnic boundaries and promotes ethnic integration,is committed to creating a Singaporean Singapore.The reform of Singapore’s parliamentary electoral system is a unique innovation of the Singapore government to solve racial issues.Through the design and arrangement of the system,the Peoples Action Party distributes political interests to ethnic groups to avoid the problem of minority group centrifugation.The reform of Singapore’s political election system includes the reform of the parliamentary electoral system and the presidential electoral system.The current parliamentary election system,that is,the single member constituency,is not conducive to the political participation of ethnic minorities.Ethnic conflicts around the founding of the country have strained ethnic relations in Singapore.The Singapore government recognizes the importance of harmonious ethnic relations to Singapore’s political stability and long-term national development.Reforming the electoral system,coordinating and balancing the political interests of ethnic groups are effective means to promote racial harmony.The group representation constituency can make up for the shortcomings of the single member constituency,which came into being in the 1980 s.The implementation of the group representation constituency has increased the enthusiasm of ethnic minorities to participate in parliamentary elections,effectively ensure the number of national parliamentary seats of ethnic minorities,promoted the coordination of minority nationality seats and minority populations,and strengthened communication and exchanges among ethnic groups.However,in the process of practice,the development of the opposition party was suppressed.Therefore,some scholars,opposition parties,and people believe that the group representation constituency has very limited effect on promoting racial harmony.The real purpose of the Peoples Action Party to implement this system is to prevent the opposition party from entering the parliament and maintain the continuation of its ruling status.The ethnic attribute of the Singapore president is a powerful symbol of Singapore as a multi-ethnic country.However,the minority presidential race under the elected presidential system is not enthusiastic and difficult to win,the long-term lack of ethnic minority presidents will reduce minority national identity.As a result,in 2016,the Singaporean government launched the reserved election presidential system to ensure that all ethnic minorities can be elected president regularly,preventing the presidents function of uniting the country and people from being weakened.The implementation of the reserved election presidential system has promoted the enthusiasm of ethnic minorities to participate in elections,is conducive to strengthening trust among ethnic groups,and promotes unity of the country and people.However,some people believe that guaranteeing ethnic minority elections through the system is inconsistent with Singapore’s concept of meritocracy.The PAP’s move is to suppress opposition forces and prevent uncontrollable situations in the presidential election.The reform of Singapore’s political elections has enabled minority groups to be fully represented in the political system,while maintaining the ruling status of the Peoples Action Party,the opposition party also has a certain living space.The public can also express their opinions through votes,creating a stable and harmonious environment for Singapore’s political development,in line with Singapore’s long-term interest.The political election system is a process of continuous improvement.In recent years,in the face of skepticism from the opposition parties and people,the Peoples Action Party responded positively,not only explaining the necessity of reforming the political electoral system many times in public,but also proposing specific measures,such as reducing the size of group representation constituency and increasing the number of single member constituency.However,if the opposition party wants to play a real supervisory role,it must obtain at least one-third of the parliamentary seats to prevent the PAP from controlling the direction of elections through constitutional amendments.Singapore’s new parliamentary election imminent,the Workers Party reiterated that the number of opposition parties in the parliament should be correctly balanced.According to the current development status of the opposition party,even if there is a breakthrough in the seats,it is difficult to obtain a third of the parliament.It is basically impossible to replace the ruling status of the Peoples Action Party in the short term.If the radio of votes to seats is fair and equitable,it is necessary to fundamentally improve and reform the political electoral system.On the one hand,to reform the shortcomings of the electoral system,on the other hand,to ensure that the election machine operates independently.