Council of Presidential Advisers The council’s fundamental role is to advise and make recommendations to the president on certain key issues. Its establishment was provided for in the Constitutional Amendment, 1991. When the inaugural Council of Presidential Advisers was introduced by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, he described the formation of the council as a case of the Government ‘clipping its own wings’.

The president is obliged to consult the council under certain circumstances, such as before applying veto powers to the budgets of the government and key government- linked bodies (i.e. statutory boards and government- linked companies listed in Schedule 5 of the Constitution), and before appointing key civil servants. The president’s veto is considered final when he has the majority vote of the council supporting his decision. Otherwise, as long as the government can obtain a two- thirds vote in Parliament, the government may overturn the president’s veto.

Appointment to the six- member council is made through a process of nomination and approval by top personnel from Singapore’s legislative, executive and judiciary bodies. The president is entitled to appoint two members at his discretion; the prime minister nominates two; the chief justice is responsible for one nominee; and the chairman of the Public Service Commission the sixth. Members of the council are appointed for an initial six- year term, after which they are eligible for re- appointment for further four- year terms.

Wee Kim Wee was the first president who enjoyed the services of the council, albeit only for two years before he stepped down. Ong Teng Cheong, Wee’s successor and Singapore’s first elected president, had more opportunities to work with the council throughout his term of office (1993– 99).

The first chairman of the council was Lim Kim San, who served his first term of six years. He was subsequently re- appointed by the president for a second term, which ended on 1 January 2004. The chairman of the council is required to exercise the functions of the Office of the President in the absence of the president. If he is unavailable, this duty falls to the Speaker of Parliament.