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SINGAPORE: Many have welcomed the electoral changes announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently, which allow for more single-seat constituencies, smaller Group Representation Constituencies (GRC) and more opposition members in the House.
Former Member of Parliament (MP), Tan Cheng Bock, said: "It is important that we have some opposition in the House. I remember I played like an opposition when I was in the People's Action Party (PAP) because I felt that there was no alternative voice.
"(It's) not because I wanted to be an opposition, but I felt that surely all of us could not be talking along the same lines all the time."
Senior research fellow from the Institute of Policy Studies, Gillian Koh, said: "People are sort of finding their voices, are exposed to the world outside, and less fixated on the bread and butter issues.
"So I think if we are able to change the rules to accommodate these changes and accommodate greater pluralism, then we will find that the system is changing towards greater diversity and allowing for different political parties to reflect that pluralism."
But how strong that voice will be depends on how well the opposition takes advantage of these changes.
The GRCs are set up to ensure minority representation in Parliament. And while opponents of the scheme have repeated calls for it to be scrapped, there is a strong view that it is still needed, because the issues of race and religion will be increasingly contentious.
MP for Hong Kah GRC, Zaqy Mohamad, said: "If you look around us, I think you find increasing religiosity among society. And increasingly, as well, you find that more are exposed to the global viewpoint.
Dr Tan, who opposed the Nominated MP (NMP) scheme from the start, thinks it is really time for it to go.
NMPs will be made a permanent feature in Parliament. PM Lee said the scheme was introduced in 1990 to bring "more alternative views and constructive dissent into the House".
Dr Tan said: "My fear is that sectarian representation is always a danger because each group that comes to the House will naturally speak for their own interest.
"I think it will be better if you get somebody elected, (somebody) who can have a wider view and who has no vested interest. He has a particular role to play and that is to reflect the views of the people who elected him and still be accountable.
"Over the years, people have gotten used to how to work the system. They know how to project themselves that may be favourable to the authorities. They get nominated and they get selected.
"And when they are in, it's a different picture. So I always feel that religious elements can come in this way, racial elements can come in this way. This proxy representation is very dangerous."
As for the future of the ruling PAP without its founder Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Koh said: "I think we have to look at the past. The PAP wasn't just Lee Kuan Yew and that there were many good men who contributed to the ideas that have become the PAP as we know it today.
"We're seeing Lee Kuan Yew as Minister Mentor trying to share a lot of experiences that he has had with his team or his various teams through the years. So I think the PAP will evolve based on firstly, his influence.
"But secondly, there's a fundamental basis where they (PAP) are forward-looking so it will be shaped by the trends going forward.
"Thirdly, in understanding those trends, my bet is that as a population in Singapore and people in Southeast Asia, we'll be more diverse, have more ideas and as a developing society, have more fundamental cultural issues, value-laden issues like abortion, homosexuality.
"Then I think there's going to be a need for the PAP to take into account these diverse views... and decide how best to accommodate these differences."
Observers feel that it will take more than just the next 50 years for Singapore to see a two-party system. The sense is that if the ruling PAP plays its cards right, it will remain the dominant party for many more years to come, even though it will be more of a challenge for the party to win a bigger share of votes in future general elections.
Over the past 25 years, the PAP's winning margin has hovered about 60 per cent of total votes cast, with the exception of the 2001 General Elections, which came at the time of the September 11 terror attacks and the post 97 Asian financial crisis.
- CNA/yt
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