GE2020: Reform Party releases manifesto, proposing GST suspension for next 1.5 years
Reform Party members and volunteers during a walkabout at Ang Mo Kio Central Market and Food Centre on June 25, 2020.
SINGAPORE — Releasing its manifesto in the run-up to the coming polls, the opposition Reform Party (RP) has called for the suspension of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the next 1.5 years as well as benefits for unemployed workers and seniors during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The party released its election manifesto and Covid-19 recovery plan via a press statement on Friday (June 26) night.
Here are some of its policy proposals for the General Election set for July 10:
Suspend GST for this year and next, followed by a review with a view to eliminating it for certain essential categories of spending, such as food, utilities and medicine. The People’s Action Party (PAP) Government previously announced that GST would rise from 7 to 9 per cent between 2022 and 2025
Pay Singaporeans unemployment benefits of up to six months, based on 75 per cent of their last-drawn salary, with a monthly cap of S$2,500
Pay those above the age of 65 seniors’ benefits of S$500 a month
Offer monthly child benefits of S$300 a child for the less privileged
Provide universal healthcare
Offer free university education to those who have done National Service
Establish a minimum wage of S$10 an hour to ensure more jobs go to Singaporeans and better wages for migrant workers
Raise the minimum salary of Employment Pass applicants to at least S$5,000 a month — from S$3,900 at present — with a cap on the total numbers. Employment Passes allow foreign professionals to work in Singapore
RP said that these proposals would build a fairer and better society not just for an elite few, but for all Singaporeans.
The party noted that Singapore is facing a global economic and health crisis unlike anything “seen in our lifetimes”.
“This is a particular threat to Singapore’s ability to continue to prosper as we are already over-reliant on global trade and the Government’s economic model of over-saving and running huge budget and current account surpluses,” it said.
The party — whose slogan for the coming polls is “Build Back Better, Fairer” — said that it does not criticise the sum that the Government is spending to protect Singaporeans’ jobs and livelihoods, but it believes it is not enough.
The PAP Government has set aside S$92.9 billion, or 19.2 per cent of gross domestic product, in response to the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
RP said: “As we deal with this crisis, we will need to build back Singapore, and this is an opportunity to build back better and fairer.”
The party, led by secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam, has said that it would field candidates in three constituencies: Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency as well as the Radin Mas and Yio Chu Kang single-member wards.
It has unveiled its slate of seven potential candidates, including four who ran in the last election. It has not said which candidates would contest in the constituencies it is eyeing.
