GE2020: After sound and fury online, historic ‘Covid election’ hustings conclude — leaving voters with much to chew over
Over the past nine days, as well as in the weeks before, parties unveiled their manifestos and shared ideas of what they would bring to the table.
SINGAPORE — After nine days of campaigning, Singapore’s 13th General Election (GE) since independence drew to a close on Wednesday (July 8).
GE2020 was touted to be like no other. The first truly “digital election” was upon Singaporeans, one that would be fought in cyberspace and not on the streets, some pundits predicted.
This election was held under the spectre of a pandemic, which has wrecked lives and livelihoods. Covid-19 has also forced Singapore and its people to adapt to a new normal of mask-wearing, limited social gatherings and working from home.
Under such conditions, election campaigning was expected to be different. And it was, with parties and candidates focusing their efforts online even though they continued pounding the streets, not pressing flesh but bumping fists.
In the absence of physical rallies, parties and candidates took to social media like they have never before. Online rallies were held every evening, with multiple sessions held by the same party as candidates sought to micro target their constituents.
Gone was the chest thumping fiery rhetoric often seen at rallies. Instead, candidates used recorded video messages, talk shows, live chats and online discussion forums to soberly get their messages out or to engage voters.
Netizens got in the act as well, penning and sharing their thoughts on Facebook or Instagram. Whatsapp and Telegram chat groups among families and friends went abuzz with copious amounts of news reports, memes and discussions related to the hustings.
In total, 93 parliamentary seats will be up for grabs in 17 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and 14 Single Member Constituencies (SMCs).
Over the past nine days, as well as in the weeks before, parties unveiled their manifestos and shared ideas of what they would bring to the table.
After all the sound and fury online, two major issues have risen above the rest: Whether Singapore needs more elected opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) and what should be done to help the country through the Covid-19 pandemic.
OPPOSITION REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT
While both the ruling party and the opposition agreed that there is a need for a diversity of voices in Parliament, they disagreed over how such voices should be represented.
The opposition continued to push the message that having more elected opposition MPs would ensure a greater system of checks and balances.
The ruling PAP has countered that there are enough checks and balances built into the system, specifically in the form of the Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) scheme, which guarantees a minimum of 12 opposition voices in Parliament.
What the PAP says:
The party needs a “strong mandate” in order to steer Singapore through the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating economic impact in its next term of Government, PAP leaders, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, have said.
They said a strong mandate for the PAP will show the world that Singaporeans are united and strongly supporting the leaders they have chosen, while weaker support for the PAP in this election will show the Republic to be “fractious and divided”.
They urged Singaporeans to think of the election as a way to vote for the next government of the country, and not just for an MP speaking up in Parliament or looking after town council matters.
The outcome of the election will also affect Singapore’s attractiveness as an investment destination for international companies, they said, and argued that weaker support for the PAP will cause foreign investors to lose confidence in the Republic.
A strong mandate for the PAP will not mean that the opposition is totally shut out of Parliament, they said. This is because the NCMP scheme guarantees at least 12 opposition members will end up in the next Parliament. They also noted that under the enhanced scheme, all NCMPs can vote on parliamentary matters and so have equal rights as elected MPs.
PAP’s second assistant secretary-general Chan Chun Sing also warned that with the opposition contesting all 93 seats in this GE, Singapore could see a government coalition after the polls on July 10.
What the opposition says:
At the launch of WP’s manifesto, party chief Pritam Singh and other candidates warned that there is “a real risk of a wipe-out of elected opposition MPs”, with 100 per cent of the elected seats in PAP hands, at this GE, as voters seek a “flight to safety” amid the pandemic.
He and other opposition leaders said they want a Parliament in which at least a third of elected seats are in opposition hands, in order to deny PAP the two-third majority that allows it to change the Constitution quite easily. Even if one-third of the House were in opposition hands, the Government would still have an “incredibly strong mandate”, as it needs only 50 per cent of seats plus one in order to pass bills, Mr Singh said.
Progress Singapore Party chief Tan Cheng Bock dismissed the idea that the opposition would win enough seats to form a government this GE, saying such an outcome was “very unlikely” and that the PAP was trying to “fool and frighten” voters with this scenario.
While they are divided on whether they would accept an NCMP seat if offered, the opposition leaders have been unified in their criticism of the scheme, with Dr Tan calling it a “ploy” by the PAP to “entice voters” into picking the ruling party.
Several argued that without a constituency to run, the NCMP would not be a proper representative of the people.
Several leaders also argued that foreign investors would not lose confidence in Singapore if more Parliamentary seats went to the opposition, as this would show that the Republic was capable of robust and healthy debate. They also pointed to other democracies around the world that have been successful while having several parties represented in Parliament.
HOW TO STEER SINGAPORE THROUGH COVID-19 CRISIS
Over the course of campaigning, the ruling party sought to highlight the work that the PAP Government has done in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic so far. As soon as hustings began, the party made clear that its plans to battle the coronavirus and its economic impact would be a key plank of its campaign.
This message was reinforced with major speeches by Mr Lee and veteran PAP politician Tharman Shanmugaratnam that touched on the urgency of the crisis and the need for strong leadership to steer the Republic through it.
Meanwhile, it has accused the opposition of failing to provide such plans — a charge that the opposition parties have denied.
While some noted that they included proposals on overcoming the crisis in their manifestos, others pointed to the comments they have made while on the campaign trail about how to help jobseekers amid the economic fallout of the coronavirus. One party, PSP, issued its Covid-19 recovery plan on Wednesday evening.
What the PAP says:
PAP candidates said on the final day of hustings that the polls are about the “ultimate test” of getting Singapore through the Covid-19 crisis.
Mr Lee stressed that the pandemic is the most complex and dangerous challenge Singapore has faced in its history, adding that the Republic’s response to it will determine the future of the country and prospects for future generations.
He also said opposition parties have been “completely silent” on how to tackle the crisis, both during the last six months and in this election campaign. This came after Mr Chan said last week that there was a “glaring” lack of discussion of Covid-19 recovery plans among the opposition and urged all political parties and candidates to refocus on the central issue of tackling the crisis.
PAP candidate Lawrence Wong also said it is “quite clear” the Government has managed to achieve several positive outcomes in its battle against Covid-19, including bringing down infection rates in the community significantly and maintaining a fatality rate that is among the lowest in the world.
What the opposition says:
Several opposition leaders refuted the accusation that they have been silent about how Singapore should tackle the Covid-19 crisis, with WP and PSP noting that their manifestos include proposals specific to helping the Republic through the pandemic.
The Singapore Democratic Party argued that its “4 Yes 1 No” campaign is geared towards helping households deal with the economic impact of the virus, as its proposals include retrenchment benefits, a S$500 income for retirees and suspending the Goods and Services Tax until 2021.
Singapore Democratic Alliance chief Desmond Lim said that the PAP Government should have used the strong mandate they received in the last election in 2015 to handle the pandemic, instead of asking for another strong mandate. He also argued that as opposition politicians are not privy to the amount of reserves the Republic has, they are not in a position to craft proper plans.
Singapore People’s Party chief Steve Chia also argued that it is the responsibility of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, who are “paid millions of dollars”, to come up with a plan to deal with the pandemic, and not that of opposition parties.
Just hours before midnight when campaigning had to stop, PSP's Dr Tan said on Wednesay evening that if his party were in the PAP Government's shoes, it would “lock down dormitories first” at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak as part of its strategy to tackle the pandemic. “Don’t assume that you can do this minimal controlling. You’ve got to really lock it down — lock the dormitories down first. Instead of locking us down, lock the dorms down first. Find out and do community tracing,” he added.
