Lion City in leaderless limbo

The eternally ruling People's Action Party has not named its choice, who should be guaranteed victory, and no one else has stepped forward.

A new head of state must be elected by August 31, when Ong Teng Cheong's six years as the Lion's City first elected president expires. From nomination to ballot, the process takes at least 11 days, so time is getting tight

The pay can't be the problem. Under Singapore's famously lavish public pay system, Mr Ong, 63, earns more than S$1.05 million annually, somewhat more than Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and more than five times what Prime Minister John Howard collects.

Nor is interest lacking. Opinion polls suggest 75 percent of voters want a contested election and about half want someone not associated with the PAP to win. By Singaporean standards, that's firebrand stuff. Mr Ong's announcement in July that he would not seek a second term caused serious stir, particularly because he gave the government a polite but nonetheless unprecedented, bucketing on the way out.

And last week's death of the much-admired first lady, Ling Siew May, who Mr Ong buried yesterday, has invested his retirement with special poignancy.

There's not lack of prestige involved, either. Unusually for a non-governing head of state, Mr Ong has narrow but important veto powers for safeguarding Singapore's vast public reserves (funds and fixed assets now estimated to exceed A$120 billion) and over senior government appointments,

Or he would have, if the government would let him. Although the powers were part of a constitutional package, it was only a month ago Mr Goh and Mr Ong agreed on principles for their use.

Announcing his departure shortly afterwards, the former PAP deputy prime minister pointedly described a "long list" of  "difficulties" he had encountered, including a three-year wait for the accountant general to deliver him a list of government assets.

This late flaring of independence from the president's palace seems to have created difficulties for the government in choosing a successor.

Does the PAP risk future presidential confrontations by nominating a livewire like Deputy Prime Minister Tong Tan or former intelligence chief S. R. Nathan? Or risk worrying voters with a greyer, more pliant candidate?

"I don't think most people could have been bothered before President Ong made his statements," constitutional lawyer Kevin Tan said. "Now they're sitting up and taking notice, because if there's one thing Singaporeans really care about, its protection of their reserves."

If they got really worried, they could even embarrass the government. In 1993, the government "persuaded" an extremely reluctant retired banker, Chua Kim Yeow, to run against Mr Ong, to give the best impression of a real contest. Mr Chua openly called Mr Ong the better candidate and reportedly spent less that S$200 on his campaign. He still picked up 41.3 percent of the vote, which is as close as elections get in Singapore.

Of course, there's no guarantee of any "opposition" this time.

The qualifying requirements for a presidential candidate are three years' experience as a minister, head of a statutory board or senior government agency, or heading a company with paid-up capital exceeding S$100 million and a minimum age of 45. That rules out any opposition figure, virtually the entire female population and all but 400 or so men. And they tend to be well, very pro-government.