http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/03/14/sdp-pap-getting-cold-feet-over-the-new-media/
Written by Our Correspondent
The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has taken a jibe at the
proposed changes to the election rules announced in Parliament
lately as a sign that the ruling PAP is getting “nervous” over the
New Media.
In a statement published on its website, SDP Assistant
Secretary-General John Tan claimed that the changes are “just
another ploy by the PAP to instill fear in the people.”
Under the new election rules, political websites will have to
register with the Media Development Authority and they are banned
from doing any sorts of election advertising for parties and
candidates on cooling off and polling days.
Offenders will be liable to be fined up to $1,000 or jailed for
up to 12 months. Of particular concern is that the offences are now
made seizable which means that the police can arrest bloggers who
run afoul of the law without any warrant of arrest.
As the PAP controls 82 out of 84 seats in Parliament, it can
amend the Singapore Constitution as and when it likes to serve its
own partisan interests without any opposition or interference from
anybody.
John felt that the “advertising guidelines introduced
is clear indication that the PAP is running scared of the New Media
and how it is a leveler of information flow.”
“The ruling party also knows that because of its control of
the traditional media, more and more Singaporeans are turning to
the Internet for information. The overwhelming sentiment in
cyberspace is for the opposition and against the PAP. The
Government is thus desperately trying to regulate cyberspace during
the elections even though it knows that it is near impossible to do
so given the nature of the beast,” he added.
The New Media is becoming an important battleground in
public opinion with the proliferation of a dozen new
socio-political sites since the 2006 elections, one of which
already has a readership higher than that of some news sites
belonging to the mainstream media.
Of all the political parties in Singapore, only the SDP has
established a presence in cyberspace with the others lagging
far behind. Efforts by the PAP to engage the online community have
faltered so far. A website set up by its young MPs in 2006 is now
effectively defunct after the MPs quitted blog, citing lack of time
to contribute articles on it.
The YPAP, which is tasked with reaching out to the young
IT-savvy voters has also failed miserably with its latest PR
disaster over the “Eric How” saga making its members a laughing
stock among Singapore netizens.
The fast rising anti-establishment sentiment in cyberspace is a
cause of concern for the PAP as it may trigger a political tsunami
similar to Malaysia’s in 2008 where young voters abandoned the
ruling Barisan Nasional coalition and voted for the opposition in
droves.
A Facebook started by a 22 year old project engineer to
vote the PAP out has
garnered more than 4,000 members in less than 3 months, the
majority of whom are Singaporeans in their 20s and 30s, a
clear sign that the PAP is losing ground among the younger
generation of voters.
For party used to winning nearly 100 percent of the seats and
garnering more than two-thirds of the popular vote, the loss of a
few more seats including a GRC and an expected drop in
the percentage of votes to less than 60 percent will be considered
a disastrous performance thereby destroying both its legitimacy and
credibility as the only party with the “mandate” to govern
Singapore.
John ended his article by calling on Singaporeans to vote for
the opposition in numbers “that will surpass the 50 percent mark”.
The PAP must be denied its traditional two-thirds majority in
Parliament to prevent it from changing the Constitution repeatedly
at its whims and fancies and to push unpopular policies down the
throats of Singaporeans again without proper planning and
deliberation.
The next election represents the last chance for Singaporeans to
reclaim ownership of their nation after which they will be swarmed
by the hordes of foreigners brought in by the PAP to shore up its
flagging support base.
Read SDP’s full press release
here