GE2020: Opposition parties lack Covid-19 recovery plan when it should be focus of polls, says PAP’s Chan Chun Sing

• Mr Chan Chun Sing said that whoever stands for election cannot assume that they will not become the government 
• He asked if people should give the opposition more seats just on the slogan that they will provide more checks on the government
• PAP candidates still handling Singapore’s reponse to the Covid-19 crisis have been less active in campaigning, he said

SINGAPORE — A responsible political party or candidate should have a comprehensive plan on the “core issue” of how to get Singapore through the coronavirus crisis, Mr Chan Chun Sing said. The second assistant secretary-general of the People’s Action Party (PAP) noted that there is a “glaring” lack of discussion of such plans among the opposition even at the halfway point of the election campaign.

Candidates and parties should not claim that they are unlikely to form the government and point out the remote chance of government changes in elections elsewhere, he added. He highlighted that the July 10 General Election (GE) is “about the interests of our country”. 

“Whoever stands for election must be prepared and must have a plan to take the country forward,” Mr Chan said.

He was speaking in Saturday (July 4) morning to the media at PAP’s Queenstown branch office after a walkabout at the ABC Brickworks Food Centre. He also had breakfast there with the other PAP candidates for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Copnstituency (GRC), namely Ms Indranee Rajah, Ms Joan Pereira, and two new candidates for the GRC, Mr Eric Chua and Mr Alvin Tan. 

Among the manifestos unveiled by the opposition parties so far, not all contained plans to help the country cope with the Covid-19 crisis. The Workers' Party (WP) and the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) were among those that did. 

STUDYING MANIFESTOS

Repeatedly urging all political parties and candidates to refocus on the central issue of tackling Covid-19, Mr Chan said that he had studied what other political parties had to say in the days and weeks leading to the GE, as well as in their party manifestos.

Topics, such as whether the opposition will be wiped out, and whether the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) scheme benefits the opposition, had been one focus of the elections so far. 

There had also been much discussion over the need for checks and balances on PAP, he said, stating that voters can decide who represents them and can look after them and their families.

He added: “Voters will have to decide if they (want) the opposition… to check the government, or checkmate the government in providing more effective, decisive governance to get through this crisis.”

In all these, the topic of recovering from the Covid-19 crisis and saving jobs affected by the pandemic was notably absent, he noted.

“I went through in detail the manifestos of the various parties and the many things that have been said... There is one part glaringly missing: How are we going to get through this crisis,” he said as he called on the opposition to share their plans on how they intend to lead Singapore through “the most challenging time in our history”.

“The election is not about the survival of any particular opposition party or how many seats PAP is going to get. It is about how we are going to get through this,” Mr Chan said. PAP's manifesto, titled Our Lives, Our Jobs, Our Future, focuses on overcoming the Covid-19 crisis, he added.

WORK STILL CONTINUES IN HANDLING CRISIS

He pointed out that during this GE period, the work by the governmental task force in heading the crisis response, the National Jobs Council in creating job opportunities, as well as the Ministry of Trade and Industry in securing lifelines, still continue.

Referring to the election campaigns of the task force co-chairs, Mr Gan Kim Yong and Mr Lawrence Wong, as well as Mrs Josephine Teo, labour chief Ng Chee Meng, National Jobs Council chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and Mr S Iswaran, Mr Chan said that some of them are campaigning less than usual.

“That's because we still have to manage the complex situation facing us… I can touch my heart and say that at no point in time have we ever neglected the lives, livelihoods and lifelines of our people,’’ Mr Chan said. 

“But we have to go to the polls and get the fresh mandate because the challenges will not be with us only for the next few months. They will be with us for the next few years.”

PROJECTED SPENDING, GST HIKE 

When asked to respond to WP chief Pritam Singh’s call for the PAP Government to make clear its revenue and expenditure projections for the rest of the decade so that Singaporeans can properly assess whether a hike in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is necessary, Mr Chan said that anybody who has been following the parliamentary proceedings are fully aware of the fiscal challenges faced by Singapore.

“It’s not as if this has not been shared,” he added, referring to the demands of Singapore’s ageing population and infrastructure renewal as well as the need to attract investments to create jobs for Singaporeans.     

Mr Singh’s comment came after Mr Chan questioned WP’s ability to foot the bill for the plans in its manifesto during an online forum on Thursday evening. 

WP’s manifesto also questioned the GST hike from the current 7 per cent to 9 per cent that will come sometime between 2022 and 2025, and contained a chapter on WP’s Covid-19 response plans.

Mr Chan said on Saturday that the question on how to pay for these proposals boiled down to three options:

• Using recurrent revenue from the present generation, such as through tax

• Drawing from past reserves earned by Singapore’s forefathers

• Borrowing from future generation

He said: “Today, for every S$5 that we spent on the budget, S$1 come from the returns from our reserves. The question for us is that, going forward, with an ageing population, do we expect or want to have more returns from our reserves?”

He stressed that parliamentary proceedings over the past two years have made clear where these challenges were.

“Now, there is no easy choice, but we must not run away from it and pretend that the problem doesn't exist. It won't go away just because we pretend not to have heard the challenges.”

At the online forum on Thursday, Mr Chan had called for the careful scrutiny of the three biggest opposition parties because should they win enough seats, he believed that they could form a coalition government.

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The three largest opposition parties in GE2020 are:

• PSP, which is contesting 24 of 93 seats in Parliament

• WP, which is contesting 21 seats

• Singapore Democratic Party, which is contesting 11 seats

Among other things, PSP’s manifesto calls for a minimum living wage and a review of Singapore’s free-trade agreements. It also proposes a post-Covid-19 resurgence strategy, which would include bolder economic stimuli and stronger support for small- and medium-sized enterprises. 

Mr K Shanmugam, PAP's treasurer who is leading the Nee Soon GRC team, also spoke on Saturday about the importance of political parties spelling out how they would tackle the Covid-19 crisis.

He said that PAP had made jobs a top issue in its manifesto because the current crisis meant that the world could be facing its most serious recession in a long time.

“It's important that every party sets out, not just some broad statements, but what are your plans to deal with it,” Mr Shanmugam said. PAP and PSP are contesting in Nee Soon GRC.

“It's not just a question of some sound bites... (but) concrete plans, jobs, economy, the recession that is coming, people's lives (and the) Covid crisis — how are you going to get out of it?” he asked.

“Even if you’re there to check (as the opposition), what are your alternative policies? I have looked at the manifesto of the candidates who are competing here. And I don't find any answers to these questions.”