The Parliament wields legislative authority and is responsible for enacting laws, statutes, and ordinances that defines the executive policies of the government. The Judiciary oversees the dispensation of justice and also keeps an eye on whether the administration is functioning in accordance with the tenets laid down in the Constitution. The President is the ‘de jure’ or the constitutional head and the Prime Minister is the ‘de facto’ head who is democratically elected to govern the country along with his Council of Singapore Ministers.
History
Sir Stamford Raffles is credited with laying the foundations for the island-state of Singapore in the year 1819. The history of modern-day Singapore can be traced back to the time when the country was a trading post of the British East India Company. After World War II Singapore became a colony of the British Empire, with self-governing powers. And on 1st August in 1958, complete independence was granted to Singapore by the UK Parliament and Singapore became a full-fledged sovereign republic.
Political Parties
The major political parties in Singapore are:-
- The PAP (which is the prevailing party in power)
- The Singapore Workers’ Party
- The Singapore People’s Party
- The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)
- The Reform Party
- The Singapore Democratic Alliance which is made up of two parties
- The National Solidarity Party
Socialist Front is the youngest of all parties that was constituted just before the 11th General Elections.
The directory of the Singapore Government is a repository of Singapore government information. It is in fact an online information bank that indexes the addresses of ministries, statutory bodies, public facilities, and all the state organs. It strives to foster the progress of communication and interaction between the citizens and their elected representatives. All the emails sent by different public organizations and setups are routinely addressed and also archived for future reference. The website id is- www.sgdi.gov.sg
If anybody wants to pick up information about the current policy initiatives of the government, he’ll just need to log in at the above website. He can also contact or send a mail to any of the following ministries for the purpose of grievance redressal. The ministries are:-
- Defence and Security
- Education and Learning
- Finance and Economy
- Arts and Creative Industries
- Environment
- Foreign Affairs
- Sports and Recreation
- Transportation
- Public Service
- Health
- Law
- Infocomm and Media
- Housing and Infrastructure
- Manpower and Employment
- Population, Family and Community
- Nation Building and Heritage
The government is formed by the political party that wins most of the seats during the general election and stays in power for five years till the date of the next elections is announced. The cabinet ministers, ministers of states (MoS), parliamentary secretaries are appointed by the Prime Minister in consultation with the President. The government also constitutes Statutory Boards of which the PA (People’s Association) is a strategic one that appoints members for the five Community Development Councils for better local administration.
Currently Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his cabinet head the government. Elections are held every five years and the party, which gains a 50% majority, is elected to form the government. Singapore's government has always been rated as one of the most politically transparent and least corrupt government in the world.
Singapore Ministers
President: Tony Tan Keng Yam.
Prime Minister: Lee Hsien Loong
Minister of Finance:Josephine Teo
Minister of Manpower:Amy Khor Lean Suan
Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts:Lawrence Wong
Minister for National Development:Tan Chuan-Jin
Minister for Defence:Chan Chun Sing
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs:Masagos Zulkifli
Minister for Law:Indranee Rajah
Minister for Health:Amy Khor Lean Suan
Minister for Transport,financeJosephine Teo
Minister in Prime Minister's Office: Heng Chee How
Minister for Trade and Industry: Teo Ser Luck
Minister for Education: Hawazi Daipi
Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports: Sam Tan Chin Siong
Last Updated On:19/02/2013
Disclaimer: The data provided here is based on the facts and research using available sources. As the data is made available on "as is" basis and subject to change anytime. This website shall not be liable for any discrepancy found in the data on our site and actual figures.