“A Great Victory for Singapore and Democracy”
To insiders who know the people, activists
and workings inside the PAP, its organisation, values, activities, unshakeable grass-roots
network and governance performance record, the outcome of Singapore General
Elections or GE2015 was never in the slightest doubt. Pre-GE2015 pundits had probably
created the Big Fuss of uncertainties and predicting disaster for PAP in order to
encourage bets to profit themselves.
Many explanations and analysis have been offered
for the landslide victory on 11 September 2015 by Singapore’s ruling People’s
Action Party (PAP) as if it was like finding water on Mars or discovering how
to make gold out of lead. Never mind
that the PAP has always been repeatedly returned to power to form the government
with comfortable majorities in Parliament for the past 50 years of Singapore’s
existence.
On an ordinary General Elections day on 11
September 2015, the PAP secured an exceptional 69.9% popular vote share to
return to power again. It secured 83 out of 89 parliamentary seats in 29 constituencies,
where 15 constituencies gave the PAP more than 70% of their votes. Overall,
Singaporeans decisively awarded the PAP with widespread popular vote-swings
from the 2011 GE with many from more than 10% to 15%. Bottom-line, the PAP won almost 10% more votes,
from a larger electorate base, from just 60.1% in GE2011.
Many have pointed to generous SG50 “goodies” distributed by the Government to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of Singapore as a major reason for PAP votes. These may have a little positive effect but
could not have been even a decisive factor in GE2015. After all, the people are accustomed to
regular “goodies” by the Government annually even during non-Elections years.
Some cited the failed strategy by Opposition parties to contest every constituency, and thereby created a “fear”
in the minds of the electorate of a “freakish (?)” elections outcome whereby
the PAP may not win enough seats to form the next government. This argument is
bizarre and absurd because the Opposition parties have adopted similar
strategies to contest more than 50% of seats, and repeatedly failed, in
previous elections. And if the PAP had indeed been performing sub-par to
deserve being replaced, then this “100% contests” strategy would be best for
the eventual Opposition alternative government. Unless of course, either the
PAP performance was never an electoral issue (why change the government then?) or/and
the electorate did not have any confidence in an Opposition alternative
government (why vote for the Opposition?).
Were there no issues worthy of General Elections
showdown? In
fact, there were many and plentiful issues to anyone following the web-sites, Blogs
and Speakers Corner speeches of the various Opposition parties as well as many
armchair-bound commentators over the previous 18+ months. The issues ranged from emotional CPF
withdrawals, high medical costs, immigrant workers, Town Council mis-management,
national service, university
places and public
transport inefficiencies. These
issues were actively argued and engaged in public conversations, public-square,
Blog-sites
as well as vigorously debated in Parliament.
Alternative solutions were also suggested in the various Manifestos of
the Opposition Parties and formed the content of election rally speeches which
were also widely published in the local newspapers. Yet, judging from the final votes on GE Day,
the PAP had won over the hearts and minds of the electorates with its
narratives, conversations and proposed solutions on all the issues. And then some.
Perhaps, the respective quality of the
Opposition candidates as compared with PAP candidates, were
found deficient and sorely wanting in experience and educational
qualifications. Actually, the slate of Opposition candidates is about the best
ever mustered in any Singapore General Elections. To be fair, just comparing
them to the new PAP candidates is sufficient to conclude that they are probably
quite evenly matched in their relative lack of political and grassroots experience. Yet, the new PAP candidates fared generally
much better than Opposition candidates from their respective final vote-count. Individual candidate’s family backgrounds, educational
qualifications and their political experience (or lack thereof) did not appear
to matter to the electorates. Sitting
PAP candidates did well; the PAP’s overall distributed vote counts attest to
and confirm the PAP as indeed and still “THE Party of the People”.
The most obvious
and true explanation for the landslide GE2015 outcome is the PAP itself.
The untimely demise in March 2015 of
Singapore’s Founding Father and First Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) brought
forth such over-flowing and out-pouring of national grief and gratitude to the
one who led the nation from a Third World island state to First World
metropolis as he had promised.
Throughout the National Mourning Week at
the end of March 2015, PAP
activists discarded their customary “white” attires as they joined
common cause with the “People-in-Black” united in the common painful sorrow of
the death of the People’s Champion. The
PAP’s Men-in-White (“MIW”) were indistinguishable. Then dressed in common
black, the MIW and people entwined in painful grief as they comfort one another
to make the transition easier to bear.
The pain grew deep and unbearable as to be intolerable at times during the
funeral procession. Together, they – the
Party and the People - were one; united in loss, side-by-side as one people,
facing tomorrow as one nation and reaching beyond our grasp towards realizing
the fuller vision of the remarkably extraordinary man who took us on the road
of no return arriving at the Metropolis as he promised.
That week in March 2015, almost 6 months earlier,
was the defining moment for GE2015. A grateful nation
would demonstrate its eternal loyalty to her Founder by re-affirming his Party’s
rightful and well-deserving place as the continuing Government by a landslide
mandate later the year.
As a political party founded in 1955 to
fight for independence from British colonial rule, the PAP has been in power
since self-government in 1959. Over
these 60 years, the PAP has seen the rise and fall of many political parties
from Europe, US, Americas, Africa and neighbouring South-East Asian countries. Far too many political parties who had fought
for independence have become victims to its own greed for power and money
corruption; and with many others have also suppressed and repressed their own
people in order to remain in power undemocratically. Very few corrupt political leaders actually
want to remember that the purpose of forming democratic
governments is to create wealth and prosperity for its people with
opportunities leading to the greatest benefits for the largest number.
The landslide victory
of GE2015 for the PAP augurs well for Singapore into the future towards SG100,
our 100th anniversary in 2065, as we continue to build on what we
have been entrusted and bequeathed by LKY – to be One People and One Nation
forever.
For the PAP, its transparency and
anti-corruption values have created a tremendous social capital deserving of
unshakeable public trust, which translated repeatedly into decisive electoral
votes in General Elections like GE2015.
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