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Singapore The Legislature
The legislature consists of the president and
Parliament.
Members must be citizens of Singapore, twenty-one years of
age or
older, on the current register of electors, able to
communicate in
either English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, or Tamil, and of
sound
mind. Membership ceases with the dissolution of a
Parliament, which
takes place every five years or at the initiative of the
president.
A general election must be held within three months of the
dissolution of Parliament. Parliament convenes at least
once a
year, scheduling its meetings after the first session is
summoned
by the president. Members may speak in English, Malay,
Mandarin
Chinese or Tamil, and simultaneous translation is
provided.
Parliamentary procedure follows the British pattern: all
bills are
deliberated in three readings and passed by a simple
majority. Only
the government may introduce money bills, those that
allocate
public funds and so provide for the ongoing operations of
the
state. Once passed, bills become laws with the assent of
the
president and publication in the official Gazette.
The final step in the passage of laws is the
examination of
bills by the Presidential Council for Minority Rights. The
council,
established by the Constitution (Amendment) Act of 1969,
must
determine if bills or other proposed legislation
discriminate
against any religious or ethnic community or otherwise
contravene
the fundamental liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.
It also
renders advisory opinions on matters affecting ethnic and
religious
communities that are referred to the council by the
Parliament or
government. The council is composed of ten members
appointed for
life and ten members and a chairman appointed for
three-year terms
by the president on the advice of the cabinet. Any bill on
which
the council renders an adverse opinion may not become law
unless
modified to its satisfaction or passed by two-thirds of
the
Parliament. The council has no jurisdiction over money
bills or
over any bill certified by the prime minister as affecting
the
defense or security of Singapore or the country's "public
safety,
peace, or good order." In addition, bills certified by the
prime
minister as so urgent that it is not in the public
interest to
delay their enactment are also exempted from review by the
council.
Data as of December 1989
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