Lee issues blunt retort to 'nuisance' president on powers of office

The republic's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, yesterday laid down the law after outgoing President Ong Teng Cheong dared complain he was treated as a "nuisance" whenever he tried to instigate his constitutional rights.

"There can be only one centre of government in the country," said Mr Lee, the Senior Minister, whose People's Action Party has ruled with an iron grip for 40 years.

Mr Lee said the elected president's powers were granted in 1991 to provide a check on any future rogue government that might somehow come to power, not the present, responsible one.

His blunt retort was pasted over three pages of the Straits Times yesterday.

Mr Lee, who was prime minister for 31 years and still pulls many strings behind the scenes, said anyone who thought the president's current role was anything more than largely ceremonial was misconceived.

It would appear even Mr Ong misunderstood.

On announcing his plans to retire on August 31, Mr Ong, 63, revealed he had been circumvented by some ministers and senior civil servants and treated as a nuisance when he asked too many questions.

He was Singapore's first popularly elected president in 1993 and the first to have constitutional powers, including veto over the country's vast reserves and senior public appointments.

But when Mr Ong took office and asked what the reserves amounted to, he was curtly told this was almost impossible to calculate and would take 54 man-years to prepare.

After some fuss, he was given a few broad details four years into his term. Then, when the government decided to dip into the reserves last year to finance a budget deficit, Mr Ong was not even informed, let alone consulted.

The government will give a formal response to the president's complaints on Tuesday.

Mr Ong's likely replacement, 75-year-old ambassador-at-large S. R. Nathan, is not known as confrontational and has Mr Lee's endorsement and that of the cabinet.

Nominations for the post close on Tuesday and a vote, if there is more than one candidate, will be held on August 28. The new president will be sworn in on September 1.