PAP policies ‘no longer reflect political character of Singapore’
SINGAPORE — Although Singaporeans have benefited from the ruling party’s policies, the People’s Action Party (PAP) is no longer the same as it was before, the Workers’ Party (WP) candidates for East Coast GRC said during its final rally.
Mr Leon Perera asked if Singaporeans can still identify with all of the Government’s policies. He cited how the ruling party underinvested in flats and public transport after winning 75 per cent of the votes in the 2001 General Election (GE).
And it did not happen because its leaders were “bad people” or “corrupt”, he said, but rather because the PAP had “different ideas” about the direction for Singapore.
“Their policies no longer reflected the political character of Singapore,” he added.
The PAP started “reversing” course after the 2011 elections, which he painted as a “political shift”, versus the “strategic shift” the Prime Minister called it.
“But we in the Workers’ Party did not reverse, we were always here,” said Mr Perera. “We’re the party of David Marshall ... We have always embraced rational social democratic principles that support, not undermine, economic competitiveness.”
His team-mate Daniel Goh pointed to the PAP’s campaign based on its track record and agreed that it has “done a good job” in creating a better Singapore.
“I’m a beneficiary of the nation-building efforts of our founding political leaders,” said Dr Goh, who also argued that things have changed in the last two decades. “The PAP today is not the PAP of the early decades.”
Mr Gerald Giam questioned if future PAP leaders could match the ability and drive of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his pioneer Cabinet colleagues: “Look at the current batch of PAP candidates, do you see any Lee Kuan Yews or Goh Keng Swees or S Rajaratnams in them?”
As for the PAP backbenchers, Mr Giam said some of them did not make even one “impactful speech” in the last term of Parliament, with Fengshan candidate Dennis Tan singling out the ward’s incumbent, former Transport Minister Raymond Lim.
“If you elect another PAP MP, do you think she’s going to speak up against the PAP ministers?” said Mr Tan.
Mr Giam added: “We don’t need more cheerleaders in Parliament. We need more representatives who can think out of the PAP box and are bold enough to confront the Government with the people’s concerns.”
He said there was “too little debate” on policies that affect people’s lives, and cited how the ruling party did not table any population White Paper in Parliament in the decade before the 2011 elections.
“They just went ahead and let one million people in within a span of 10 years,” said Mr Giam.
“It took (the PAP) a ... loss in Aljunied to realise that our infrastructure was bursting at the seams and that Singaporeans felt that they were losing their identity.”
Mr Mohamed Fairoz Shariff said the GRC’s residents were the team’s inspiration: “Your ... feedback inspired many of the proposals in our party’s manifesto. Your hopes and aspirations for a better Singapore have inspired me and my team-mates to step forward as the Workers’ Party candidates for East Coast GRC.”
Besides speaking up in Parliament to provide a “check and balance”, Mr Tan said the cleanliness of Fengshan and efficiency of essential services would also be among his priorities.
“If all the Workers’ Party candidates in Fengshan SMC and East Coast GRC are elected, we’ll run the town council together,” he said. His call to voters: “Remove the white haze around Bedok, Simei and Changi, and bring on a new blue sky”.
