February 8, 2010 - Temasek Review
OPINION
Time for Singapore opposition to come up with a Common
Policy Framework
The next general election will be a watershed in the history of
Singapore. With young Singaporeans joining the electorate and
public sentiments turning against the ruling PAP, the opposition
stands a fighting chance of denying the PAP its traditional
two-third majority in Parliament.
An increasing number of Singaporeans including even PAP
supporters are starting to accept the idea of a two-party system to
ensure the continuing survival and prosperity of Singapore.
Being a small nation without any natural resources, human
resource is our greatest asset. We need not only one strong ruling
party, but one credible opposition or government-in-waiting as well
ready to replace the incumbents should they screw up.
The PAP’s track record over the last few years speaks of the
flaws of a one-party system: many policies are hastily implemented
without proper discussion and debate in Parliament and neither were
the people adequately consulted with disastrous results for the
common man in the street who have to bear the brunt of the its
mistakes.
The immigration policy is one classic example: too many
foreigners were allowed into Singapore within too short a period of
time and now we end up with a big headache of how to integrate them
into our society.
The PAP’s solution to the problem they have created is
one-dimensional: dumping $10 million dollars of taxpayers’ monies
to conduct free language classes and events to make the newcomers
feel welcomed in Singapore.
There is an urgent need for an alternative center of power to
emerge in Singapore to challenge the PAP and to put an end to its
political dominance which is killing Singapore.
With Singaporeans more inclined to vote for the opposition now,
it should ride on the wave of public support to build a credible
alternative to the PAP.
Of utmost importance is for the opposition to come together
under a common coalition and put forth a common policy platform to
Singaporeans without which it can never hope to pose a serious
threat to the PAP.
The opposition cannot afford to campaign on the tried and tested
methods of providing checks and balances to the PAP anymore. While
they can always count on 20 to 30 per cent of core supporters who
will always cast protest votes, they have to sway the
fence-sitters over and to do so, they must come up with a vision
for Singapore which is radically different from the PAP’s.
As past elections have shown, the opposition’s voice tends to
get diluted amid the cacophony of election fever which distracts
the attention of voters from the real issues concerning them.
For example, in the 2006 election, the Workers’ Party was
embroiled in the James Gomez controversy while Singapore’s
Democratic Party was sued for defaming the government. In the end,
Singaporeans still do not know what the opposition can offer them
on the eve of the election.
To put it bluntly: if the opposition do not come together in the
next general election and continues to fight individual battles on
their own, they will never be able to achieve any breakthrough and
the status quo shall remain.
All the opposition parties in Singapore should come together
under a coalition like Malaysia’s Pakatan Rakyat which allows each
party to preserve their own individual entity while giving them a
common platform to stand on.
We propose the following steps for the opposition to take to
increase its chances of taking on the PAP in the next general
election:
1. Forge a common alliance – the Singapore Democratic Alliance
(SDA) is a good platform to begin with.
2. Draft up a common policy framework proposing to Singaporeans
changes to be made in the following areas should they come to
power: immigration, housing, education, economic, labor policies
etc.
3. Come up with a simple slogan which resonates easily with
voters, e.g. “Singapore for Singaporeans”.
4. Bring the message out to the people via weekly public forums,
seminars and exhibitions and use the New Media to reach out to the
young voters, e.g. the opposition leaders can take turns to give a
short speech on the policies which they propose changing which will
be uploaded to Youtube.
5. Repeat their common policy platform again, again and again
such that the message is ingrained in the minds of Singaporeans
come election day.
The opposition has no time to lose. The 9 day election campaign
period is too short for them to achieve anything. They have to work
the ground right before the battle begin.
There is no point participating in the elections just to make
your voices heard and be satisfied with not losing the election
deposits. To stand a realistic chance of bringing down the PAP
behemoth, the opposition has to stand united and speak in one
united voice.
The Malaysian opposition has taught us an invaluable lesson:
they won only 27 seats in the 2004 elections when they contested
the elections as individual parties, but 82 seats in the 2008
elections after they come together as one single coalition to
fight the Barisan Nasional heads on.
If the Islamist PAS and Chinese DAP can work together, why not
the Singapore’s opposition parties which have a lot more in common
than their own petty differences and animosities?
The situation is very much in favor of the opposition now:
public unhappiness at the PAP is at an all-time high, young
Singaporeans are clamoring for change, the New Media is enjoying an
increasing readership and more credible candidates are joining the
opposition.
The opposition only has itself and nobody else to blame if
it fails to deny the PAP its two-third majority in the next general
election. With a proper electoral strategy and slick marketing to
deliver their message across, the opposition should have no
problems winning one or two GRCs and a few more SMCs. The onus lies
on them to set aside their differences and to work together for a
greater common goal.