The PAP in crisis (Part 1): An ossified structure lacking an institutionalized system of party renewal

By Eugene Yeo, Consultant Editor (Editing by Jeremy Yau)

[In this classic five-part series, Eugene Yeo will examine the inherent weaknesses of the ruling PAP, its implications for Singapore and possible scenarios in the post-LKY era.]

As the PAP celebrated its 50th year anniversary in power in 2009 as well as the distinction of being the second longest political party in government in Asia after the Chinese Communist Party, it appears that this dominant party will continue its rule for the next fifty years.

Fifty years of uninterrupted rule has entrenched the PAP in all aspects of Singapore's institutions and life. The line between government and party has become increasingly blurred with each passing day. The opposition is too enfeebled and divided to put up a strong challenge such that elections are relegated no more than a five-year "PR exercise" to legitimatize the PAP's "mandate" to govern Singapore.

Despite being one of the world's most successful political parties, the PAP is facing an impending crisis, if it is not already in one stemming largely from its internal structural weaknesses which ironically were its greatest strengths in its early days culminating in a monolithic, stable and efficient political machinery.

When Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said lately that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is looking for a candidate in his 30s and 40s to take over him, he had unwittingly revealed the PAP's greatest weakness: an ossified internal structure which has long ceased to be a viable, dynamic and ambitious political party crippled by a lack of institutionalized system of succession and renewal to pass the baton from one generation of leaders to another.

The PAP has a monopoly of the best talents in Singapore. There are ready candidates in the party with many years of experience in government to take over Mr Lee's position: Health Minister Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Finance Minister Tharman, Foreign Minister George Yeo, Education Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen and Youth and Sports Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, just to quote a few. Why is there a need to source for a fresh, inexperienced and untested candidate from outside the party hierarchy for Singapore's 4th Prime Minister?

Singapore inherited the Westminister model of government from Britain which is similiar to Malaysia and India. The leader of the political party with the most number of seats in Parliament will usually become the Prime Minister. For example, Gordon Brown who replaced Tony Blair as the Labor Party Chief automatically became the British Prime Minister. Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who became UMNO's President last year, became Malaysia's 6th Prime Minister a month later.

Unless there are no candidates within the PAP to replace Mr Lee as its Secretary-General, it is inconceivable that he will need to recruit a successor from outside the party ranks. But again, it will not be surprising if we consider the fact that the PAP is all but a political party in name only. The present PAP is a pale shadow of its past and has become a mere vehicle for the ruling elite to maintain their legitimate hegemony over the nation.

Every political party should have different factions and hence centers of power, a proper system of leadership renewal and a political milieu for it to operate. China may be an authoritarian one-party state ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but the CCP is not as monolithic as the PAP.

There are currently four different centers of power in the CCP: the Shanghai clique led by Jiang Zemin's proteges in the Politburo, the Communist Youth League under Secretary-General Hu Jintao and his protege Li Keqiang, the Old Guards and their princelings such as Hu's anointed successor Xi Jiping, the son of the highly revered Xi Zhongxun and new technocrats rising through the ranks of power.

The CCP has moved from the one-man rule during Maoist era to a party ruled collectively by consensus while the PAP remained literally under the thumbs of one man.

Malaysia's UMNO is split between loyalists of ex-Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, Mahathirists, supporters of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Tengku Razeleigh Hamzah, the odd man out. Again, there are opposing forces to counter the political clout of the incumbent unlike the PAP where all power is concentrated in the hands of one or few persons with no other alternative centers of power.

In a political party, every single cadre will have the opportunity to advance in the party hierarchy and to lead it if he/she is capable enough to command the respect and trust of the other members. Factionalism will also be an ugly but inevitable aspect of intra-party politics with two or more groups emerging to jostle for power and support within the party ranks as in the present crisis engulfing the Malaysian Chinese Association which is split between its President Ong Tee Keat and his deputy Chua Soi Lek.

There was genuine intra-party democracy, politics and competition in the early days of the PAP. It was revealed lately by ex-PAP Chairman Toh Chin Chye and Ong Pang Boon that in the aftermath of the PAP's electoral victory in 1959, the PAP's CEC set out to select who to become the next Chief Minister of Singapore. (Source: Straits Times, 5 September 2009)

There were two nominations - the PAP's Secretary-General Lee Kuan Yew and its hugely popular treasurer and Mayor Singapore, Ong Eng Guan. Lee won by only one vote cast by Toh Chin Chye.

The present PAP does not subscribe to all the norms of a political party. It has lost is vitality and is an empty shell lacking competitive intra-party politics to nurture aspiring young politicians and to ensure a proper and peaceful transition of power. Its internal structure is closer to the "mandarinate" system of ancient Chinese dynasties than to a modern political party.

Under the "mandarinate" system, power is highly centralized in the hands of a single person or an inner corterie of persons beholdened to him/her. This person, nominally the Emperor in China's feudal dynasties, retains overall control in the selection and appointment of personnel to fill important positions of leadership in the system. Seniority counts for little and outsiders can be easily parachuted to take up positions usually reserved for party elders. There is no institutionalized system of party succession or renewal which boils down to the word of one man/woman.

The hierarchy of the PAP can be divided into the following:

1. The real seat of power centered around the Prime Minister (or some say, his father) and his closest ministers and aides.

2. Other ministers and MPs.

3. Ordinary party cadres.

4. Grassroots support.

In a typical political party like Malaysia's UMNO, Japan's LDP or even China's CCP, party leaders are usually elected directly by ordinary party members or delegates. Datuk Seri Najib Razak became UMNO President because his challenger Tengku Razaleigh could not muster enough votes to be nominated as a candidate. There is a tried and tested system put in place for climbing up the ladders of the party into positions of power.

There appears to be no such system in the PAP. In the 1980s, a group of PAP stalwarts were dropped rather unceremoniously from the party lineup by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Potential MP-candidates are not chosen from within the party ranks, but from the now famous "tea-parties" organized by the PAP to recruit promising candidates (usually successful professionals, technocrats and civil servants)

Party loyalty, service and seniority counts for little in the PAP. One can be a party veteran for thirty years, but will never rise up the ranks unless one is deemed capable and trustworthy enough by those in power. A newcomer with no prior connection with the party can be easily "parachuted" into positions of leadership over others with far more impressive party pedigree. Even those already ensconced in positions of power are not safe either. They can always be asked to "make way" for the sake of "party renewal" as had happened to the PAP Old Guards only that the party is not renewing according to the party's Constitution, but at the whims and fancies of one person or a group of persons.

While the "mandarinate" system will help to keep the PAP highly uniform, stable and monolithic, literally bereft of party politics, factionalism and in-fighting which plagues most political parties, it resulted in a disjointed system where the party and grassroots support base are largely disconnected from the ruling elite where most, if not all the major decisions are made.

Ordinary cadres are excluded from the strategic planning and decision-making processes. All they need to do is simply to follow orders from the top and implement the party's plans on the ground. Hence, though the PAP has a powerful grassroots machinery, it is one which lacks initiative, motivation and dynamicism resulting in another potental fatal weakness in its organizational structure which I shall elucidate more in the second part of this series: - A disconnected, disjointed and unmotivated party and grassroots support base.

Article source: http://temasekreview.com/?p=12659