‘Plain and simple’ electioneering to state losing ministers won’t weaken Govt, says ESM Goh
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SINGAPORE – The opposition’s assertions that the PAP government will not be weakened if it loses ministers is “plain and simple” electioneering that misleads voters, said Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
In a Facebook post on April 30, ESM Goh used the analogy of a football team to refer to Singapore’s political office-holders.
“If four seasoned members of a football team’s starting 11 are absent, will the team be weaker? According to the Opposition, the answer is ‘no’. Because you can use the reserves, they say,” he wrote.
“How can that be? Even with capable substitutes, nothing beats having your first team on the field,” he said.
ESM Goh, who was Singapore’s second prime minister, painted the scenario of the WP winning all 26 seats it is contesting at the general election, and the PSP winning five seats in West Coast-Jurong West GRC.
This would result in a “scoreline” of 66 PAP MPs and 31 opposition MPs, ESM Goh noted.
The WP is fielding 26 candidates in three SMCs and five GRCs, including East Coast GRC, Punggol GRC and Tampines GRC.
The PAP losing in these eight constituencies and West Coast-Jurong West would mean the loss of 10 political office-holders, ESM Goh said.
These include four seasoned ministers – Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong who is contesting Punggol GRC, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong in East Coast GRC, Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli in Tampines GRC and National Development Minister Desmond Lee in West Coast-Jurong West GRC.
“This will undeniably hamstring PM Wong for the upcoming term of government. He will find it difficult to play against other teams on the global stage,” he said.
“In a world at risk of becoming ‘might is right’, we need the strongest team for our little red dot.”
ESM Goh, in an April 25 Facebook post, made the point that voters have to decide between having more opposition in Parliament and a weaker government, or giving PM Wong and the PAP a strong mandate to govern Singapore.
On April 30, he said: “Singapore deserves the best team to lead us domestically and internationally. It also deserves honest political debate.”
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction
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