Date: 5 August 2011, Friday Venue: Ballroom 1 & 2, Orchard Hotel
Synopsis:
With the election for the next President due by the end of August, prospective candidates have shared their views on the role of the office and what they intend to do if elected. Public intellectuals like Professor Tommy Koh and Mr Ho Kwon Ping have also written on the constitutional and moral powers that someone in the office might wield. The current and former ministers of law have cautioned against overstating the powers of the Elected President.
The key areas of interest that have emerged include the specific limits of the President's custodial powers and the scope of what might be termed the President's 'soft power'. Other areas of interest are the rules for establishing eligibility for candidacy and the manner in which hustings should be conducted.
We are pleased to present a distinguished panel comprising Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs; Professor Thio Li-ann, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore; and Professor Tommy Koh, Special Adviser to the Institute of Policy Studies, who will chair the proceedings. The panel will share their thoughts before proceeding to an open dialogue with participants.
