Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was giving a speech in Parliament earlier today on Singapore’s Covid-19 response.
Auntie’s question got them thinking
He shared that a middle-aged voter had asked Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean something that concerned her; she heard from others that it’s okay to vote for opposition candidates as “the PAP will remain in charge”, and that the upgrading programmes that the PAP promised will still carry on even if voters sided with the opposition.
This way, they can have “two sets of people serving them instead of one”.
The lady then asked Mr Teo whether this assumption was true, to which PM Lee remarked that he thought she was asking “How can this be true?”
“Free riders”
PM Lee then called these opposition voters free-riders, urging voters to vote for who they want to be the government, and that’s that.
He said that it could get to a point where too many of the voters are relying on other people to vote in the PAP, which may result in them not being able to form the government.
Firing back at PM Lee
Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh then fired back at PM Lee, saying that the situation is as voters wanted.
He cited examples where opposition MPs were nnot represented fairly in the framework of Singapore’s politics; such as Meet-The-People (MTP) sessions, where opposition MPs conduct them in void decks while the PAP MPs use dedicated offices.
Singh said that voters want more diversity and representation in Parliament instead of a PAP super-majority, that’s why they voted in such a pattern.
Need to be responsible
He added that this is why he and his colleagues must be responsible as MPs because this is what’s been asked of them.
Singh then quoted Lee Kuan Yew: “At the end of the day, if you’re running the system properly, you must have a distinction between the party and the government so that the machinery is there for the next party to take over… (the government) is not going to collapse.”
No intention of forming Government
He did however add that he doesn’t intend to form the Government, although he believes that in Parliament, there should be opposition representation.
Singh then defended the voters who voted the Workers’ Party members into Parliament, saying they may be justified in doing so.
PM Lee, not being swayed, retorted that voters should vote for whoever deserves to lead Singapore and not for diversification.
He explained that this is because the system will fail if everyone voted this way.
Due credit
With that being said, PM Lee recognises the need for opposition by having more Non-Constituency MPs.
Recognising Singh as the Leader of the Opposition is a step towards making the Parliament more diverse.