Immediately after nomination day, campaign posters of all electing parties were seen being put up at lighting speed. However, candidates from Singapore People Party noticed that some of the PAP posters were put up without official stamps.
2 SPP candidates Mr Khan Osman Sulaiman and Mr Williamson Lee had shared their concerns over this matter on social media.
Mr Khan Osman Sulaiman post:
“At every election, the PAP candidate posters are always quick off the ground. Once the nomination is confirmed, u can already see their posters being put up on the streets.
Initially, I put it down to better logistics, machinery and funds. It will at least take some time for the opposition to put up their posters. Each poster needs to have the ELD stickers on it. The stickers are issued only after the nomination is closed.
So from the nomination centre, we have to bring the ELD issued stickers to our warehouse and hastily paste all the stickers onto every of our posters. Only then we can go about hanging our posters on the streets.
No difference to this time round of the election. I saw that the PAP posters are already up once nomination closed. How is that possible? Lightning-quick manpower. But upon closer inspection, these posters have no ELD stickers on it which is a violation of election rules. That explains why the PAP has been able to put up their posters quickly.
This happens at Bishan Toa Payoh. We already wrote in to the elections department.”
Mr Williamson Lee post:
“POSTERS WITH NO STICKERS IN BISHAN TOA-PAYOH GRC
Yesterday, we noted that the PAP candidates made their presence felt, at least in the form of posters, everywhere in BTP GRC. As our lorries rolled out, many of their posters were already put up. But that in it self is nothing new. It is trite that the PAP is well resourced and we are a small but strong team.
However, after doing our outreach as we were making our way around the estate to thank the kind people who helped us put our posters up under the scorching sun and pouring rain, it came to my attention that many of the posters put up by the PAP did not have the ELD sticker affixed to it. Every poster and banner put up must have a sticker accompanying it. This sticker is one that is issued by ELD and can only be collected after nomination.
The purpose of this sticker is to limit the number of posters and banners one can put up so as to try and level the playing field. If one is allowed to put up banners without stickers, then of course they can “flood” the GRC with an seemingly unlimited number of posters.
We have seen many instances where the PAP has failed to comply with the requirement to put posters at a height of at least 2.2m (a new requirement this GE) – however, this is an understandable error as we can’t be expected to measure the height of every placement and some “agaration” is inevitable. However, for posters to be put up without stickers – this is a breach of the regulations that serve to level the playing field.
I have emailed [email protected] & [email protected] to inform them about the same. I trust that they will look into it and respond in a timely manner. If you see or come across any poster that breaches ELD regulations (no stickers, clearly less than 2.2m, etc) I encourage you as citizens to exercise your right to inform ELD via email at [email protected]
The odds have always been stacked against us, that is nothing new. As we have always done, we will continue to fight the odds and strive for A Better Tomorrow.”
