SINGAPORE: Being a “price-taker” and "a very small party", the Workers’ Party (WP) must keep its cards close to its chest, said the opposition party's chief Pritam Singh on Sunday (Apr 20).
Mr Singh was responding to a question at a press conference held at WP's headquarters, where the party introduced its final slate of new potential candidates ahead of Singapore's May 3 General Election.
WP has introduced 14 new faces over the past four days, but has yet to make known which constituencies it intends to contest nor the total number of candidates it is fielding in the upcoming polls.
Asked how the party strikes a balance between political strategy and giving voters time to understand its new candidates, Mr Singh described the WP as a “price-taker”.
“I say that in the context, for example, of the EBRC (Electoral Boundaries Review Committee). When the boundaries are redrawn, I request voters to understand how we have to determine what are the best prospects of success for the Workers’ Party.”
He noted that this was “a difficult decision to make” and what the party does is to continue to work the ground and do its best to reach out to as many Singaporeans as possible.
The party secretary-general said he has also had conversations with many Singaporeans, asking them how they felt about the opposition keeping its cards close to its chest, and received some “very revealing” answers.
“They say: ‘Mr. Singh, we know the party. We know what the party stands for. We know what the party works for, and all we ask is just give us a committed individual who will serve the constituency well, but more importantly, serve us in parliament. Ask the questions that are not asked in parliament’,” he told reporters.
“So I hold this direction, if I can refer to … it as such, as something which I keep quite close to my heart, and we try and put the best people we can on all of our slates, and they will all be individuals who Singaporeans can be proud of.”
The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has also yet to reveal its lineups for some potential key battlegrounds with the WP, including East Coast and Punggol GRCs.
Asked about this mutual caution from both parties, Mr Singh said the WP was “very mindful” about the signals it sends.
"It is very well-known that we are a very small party, and so we have to be mindful how we employ our strategy," said Mr Singh.
"We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves as well, because ultimately, the purpose is to really put forward a good slate of people … for the voters in these constituencies to look seriously at the proposals that these candidates bring forward.
“I would say things will be clearer in the next few days and I look forward to a good fight put up by our candidates.”
WP leaders were also asked on Sunday about estate upgrading and masterplans rolled out by the PAP in several constituencies, and how it would prepare its candidates to respond.
Party chair Sylvia Lim pointed out that town councils in WP-held constituencies have also announced their five-year masterplans.
For areas it would be contesting and where it is not the incumbent, Ms Lim said voters understand that the party’s value proposition lies very much in what it can bring to parliament.
“They understand the need for there to be a parliamentary check on what the government is doing,” she said. “They understand why it is not good for the country to have a parliament that is dominated by one party, and over time, we have seen that the voters value this.”
Ms Lim added that the party has built up “some experience” in town council management and would be able to share this experience with newly elected Members of Parliament, if it manages to win new constituencies.
“If we are fortunate enough to win new areas, we will get working from day one.”
That said, it would be “jumping the gun” to expect opposition candidates to come up with five-year masterplans for the constituencies they are contesting, as that would involve understanding how government agencies work in approving plans and what kinds of funding are available, among other issues, said Ms Lim.
“So, this is the lay of the land but it doesn't stop us from contesting and fighting seriously in all the wards that we are contesting.”
Responding to another question later on whether this meant the party would focus its election campaign on parliamentary performance, Ms Lim reiterated that the party had built up town council management experience after a decade of running constituencies.
“What I can say to residents is that they shouldn't have concerns about us taking over if they should deem it fit to give WP a vote.”
She also pointed to annual ratings by the Ministry of National Development, where the Aljunied-Hougang and Sengkang town councils have been rated “as well as” others ran by the PAP.
Both received the top rating for corporate governance in the latest town council management report released last December. They also received green ratings in an earlier report released in June, which rated town councils on operations such as estate cleanliness and maintenance.
“But of course, our fundamental belief is that we add something to parliament which I don't think the PAP MPs can do and that is that the topics we bring up or the questions that we have or even the way we vote, we do it independently,” Ms Lim added.
“We do not answer to the government for how we do these things. We can ask questions which some may deem to be sensitive. Our focus is always on what is required to be done in the national interest.
“So, I would say that if you talk about unique value proposition, it is what we bring to parliament.”
Continue reading...
Mr Singh was responding to a question at a press conference held at WP's headquarters, where the party introduced its final slate of new potential candidates ahead of Singapore's May 3 General Election.
WP has introduced 14 new faces over the past four days, but has yet to make known which constituencies it intends to contest nor the total number of candidates it is fielding in the upcoming polls.
Asked how the party strikes a balance between political strategy and giving voters time to understand its new candidates, Mr Singh described the WP as a “price-taker”.
“I say that in the context, for example, of the EBRC (Electoral Boundaries Review Committee). When the boundaries are redrawn, I request voters to understand how we have to determine what are the best prospects of success for the Workers’ Party.”
He noted that this was “a difficult decision to make” and what the party does is to continue to work the ground and do its best to reach out to as many Singaporeans as possible.
The party secretary-general said he has also had conversations with many Singaporeans, asking them how they felt about the opposition keeping its cards close to its chest, and received some “very revealing” answers.
“They say: ‘Mr. Singh, we know the party. We know what the party stands for. We know what the party works for, and all we ask is just give us a committed individual who will serve the constituency well, but more importantly, serve us in parliament. Ask the questions that are not asked in parliament’,” he told reporters.
“So I hold this direction, if I can refer to … it as such, as something which I keep quite close to my heart, and we try and put the best people we can on all of our slates, and they will all be individuals who Singaporeans can be proud of.”
Related:
The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has also yet to reveal its lineups for some potential key battlegrounds with the WP, including East Coast and Punggol GRCs.
Asked about this mutual caution from both parties, Mr Singh said the WP was “very mindful” about the signals it sends.
"It is very well-known that we are a very small party, and so we have to be mindful how we employ our strategy," said Mr Singh.
"We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves as well, because ultimately, the purpose is to really put forward a good slate of people … for the voters in these constituencies to look seriously at the proposals that these candidates bring forward.
“I would say things will be clearer in the next few days and I look forward to a good fight put up by our candidates.”
WP'S "VALUE PROPOSITION"
WP leaders were also asked on Sunday about estate upgrading and masterplans rolled out by the PAP in several constituencies, and how it would prepare its candidates to respond.
Party chair Sylvia Lim pointed out that town councils in WP-held constituencies have also announced their five-year masterplans.
For areas it would be contesting and where it is not the incumbent, Ms Lim said voters understand that the party’s value proposition lies very much in what it can bring to parliament.
“They understand the need for there to be a parliamentary check on what the government is doing,” she said. “They understand why it is not good for the country to have a parliament that is dominated by one party, and over time, we have seen that the voters value this.”
Ms Lim added that the party has built up “some experience” in town council management and would be able to share this experience with newly elected Members of Parliament, if it manages to win new constituencies.
“If we are fortunate enough to win new areas, we will get working from day one.”
That said, it would be “jumping the gun” to expect opposition candidates to come up with five-year masterplans for the constituencies they are contesting, as that would involve understanding how government agencies work in approving plans and what kinds of funding are available, among other issues, said Ms Lim.
“So, this is the lay of the land but it doesn't stop us from contesting and fighting seriously in all the wards that we are contesting.”
Related:
Responding to another question later on whether this meant the party would focus its election campaign on parliamentary performance, Ms Lim reiterated that the party had built up town council management experience after a decade of running constituencies.
“What I can say to residents is that they shouldn't have concerns about us taking over if they should deem it fit to give WP a vote.”
She also pointed to annual ratings by the Ministry of National Development, where the Aljunied-Hougang and Sengkang town councils have been rated “as well as” others ran by the PAP.
Both received the top rating for corporate governance in the latest town council management report released last December. They also received green ratings in an earlier report released in June, which rated town councils on operations such as estate cleanliness and maintenance.
“But of course, our fundamental belief is that we add something to parliament which I don't think the PAP MPs can do and that is that the topics we bring up or the questions that we have or even the way we vote, we do it independently,” Ms Lim added.
“We do not answer to the government for how we do these things. We can ask questions which some may deem to be sensitive. Our focus is always on what is required to be done in the national interest.
“So, I would say that if you talk about unique value proposition, it is what we bring to parliament.”
Continue reading...