PM Lee Hsien Loong says "Two-party system 'not feasible'"

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110406-271953.html

By Kenny Chee
Having a two-party system of politics is not feasible because there is not enough talent to form two first-class teams to govern Singapore well, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last night.
"The most effective way to get a two-party system is to split the People's Action Party (PAP) in two because the talent is there," he said.
Speaking at a forum on leadership renewal at the University Cultural Centre, Mr Lee said the party had "seriously considered" splitting itself in two but did not go ahead because it could not form two teams that are each as good as the combined team.
Therefore, Mr Lee said that it is best to have one strong team with the best people.

If the PAP split into two, he said the Government would become weaker and the chances of thing going wrong would increase, or standard of governance would drop.
Mr Lee cited how two-party systems could also arise if society splits along the lines of race and religion, or along class lines such as with Britain and the United States.
He said the first scenario was the "worst possible" for Singapore and the second was "not a good outcome".
A two-party system could also arise from two groups pushing different policies, but Mr Lee sad this is unlikely as the PAP is pragmatic and open to all good ideas.

While I would agree that two-party system is not feasible for Singapore, but I also believe that a one-party system is obsolete in the 21st century.  So what do we do?

Beyond a one party and two party system, there is also something known as a multi-party system.  This system ensures that no single party dominates the government.  Such a system is common in small democracies similar in population size to Singapore such as Finland and Sweden and has proved to work as evidenced by the successful economies of Finland and Sweden.

Lee Hsien Loong has already admited that it is difficult to attract young people into the government.  The PAP is experiencing a confidence and morale crisis which will certainly result in a greatly weakened government in the future.  In theory and in the past, the one-party system is the best solution for Singapore, but this is no longer the case in today's world.

 Summary of the 18 March 2007 Parliament of Finland election results

Parties	Votes	%	Seats
Centre Party (Suomen Keskusta, Centern i Finland)	640,428	23.1	51
National Coalition Party (Kansallinen Kokoomus, Samlingspartiet)	616,841	22.3	50
Social Democratic Party of Finland (Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue, Finlands socialdemokratiska parti)	594,194	21.4	45
Left Alliance (Vasemmistoliitto, Vänsterförbundet)	244,296	8.8	17
Green League (Vihreä liitto, Gröna förbundet)	234,429	8.5	15
Christian Democrats (Kristillisdemokraatit, Kristdemokraterna)	134,790	4.9	7
Swedish People's Party (Svenska Folkpartiet, Ruotsalainen kansanpuolue)	126,520	4.5	9
True Finns (Perussuomalaiset, Sannfinländarna)	112,256	4.1	5
Communist Party of Finland (Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, Finlands kommunistiska parti)	18,277	0.7	0
Seniors' Party of Finland (Suomen Senioripuolue, Finlands Seniorparti)	16,715	0.6	0
Bourgeois Alliance (Borgerlig Allians, Åland)	9,561	0.3	1

Summary of the 19 September 2010 Parliament of Sweden election results

Parties and coalitions		Votes				Permanent seats		Adjustment seats		Total seats		seats %/votes %
		#	±	%	±%	#	±	#	±	seats	swing
	Swedish Social Democratic Party Socialdemokraterna	1,827,497	115,128	30.66	4.33	112	18	0	0	112	18	1.05
	Moderate Party Moderaterna	1,791,766	335,752	30.06	3.83	107	10	0	0	107	10	1.02
	Green Party Miljöpartiet de Gröna	437,435	146,314	7.34	2.09	19	10	6	4	25	6	0.98
	Liberal People's Party Folkpartiet liberalerna	420,524	2,129	7.06	0.48	17	5	7	1	24	4	0.97
	Centre Party Centerpartiet	390,804	46,585	6.56	1.32	21	6	2	0	23	6	1.01
	Sweden Democrats Sverigedemokraterna	339,610	177,147	5.70	2.77	14	14	6	6	20	20	1.01
	Left Party Vänsterpartiet	334,053	9,331	5.60	0.24	9	4	10	1	19	3	0.97
	Christian Democrats Kristdemokraterna	333,696	32,302	5.60	0.99	11	6	8	1	19	5	0.97
	Pirate Party Piratpartiet	38,491	3,573	0.65	0.02	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Feminist Initiative Feministiskt initiativ	24,139	13,815	0.40	0.28	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Swedish Senior Citizen Interest Party Sveriges pensionärers intresseparti	11,078	17,728	0.19	0.33	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Rural Democrats Landsbygdsdemokraterna	1,565	1,565	0.03	0.03	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Socialist Justice Party Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna	1,507	410	0.03	0.01	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Norrland Coalition Party Norrländska Samlingspartiet	1,456	1,456	0.02	0.02	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	National Democrats Nationaldemokraterna	1,141	1,923	0.02	0.04	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Classical Liberal Party Klassiskt Liberala Partiet	716	514	0.01	0.01	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Freedom Party Frihetspartiet	688	688	0.01	0.01	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Party of the Swedes Svenskarnas Parti	681	681	0.01	0.01	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Unity Enhet	632	2,016	0.01	0.04	0	-	0	-	0	-	0.00
	Parties with less than 500 votes	2,929	1,837	0.05	0.03	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.00
	The Alliance Alliansen (Moderate Party, Liberal People's Party, Centre Party, Christian Democrats)	2,936,790	258,994	49.27	1.03	156	3	17	2	173	5	1.01
	Red-Greens Rödgröna (Social Democrats, Green Party, Left Party)	2,598,985	40,517	43.60	2.48	140	11	16	4	156	15	1.03