By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia
The PAP are so transparent that there is no need to look? The PAP are so clean they don't need to wash? They are so open that they are closed? The PAP are so full of ... rhetoric that there is no substance to anything they are saying.
International election monitors usually monitor elections in developing democracies. Singapore is not a 'developing democracy' but an authoritarian state. Yes Singapore has developed economically but when individuals engage with politics it is viewed as a criminal offence [bloggers have recently been reminded of this] unless conducted by government sanctioned groups. Therefore international election monitors are not welcomed by the People's Action Party, because they WILL/MIGHT/COULD declare the election invalid and cause an international outrage.
Best not take that risk!
SINGAPORE : Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said Singapore does not need election monitors to observe the nation's voting process.
Some opposition parties had been lobbying for them on their websites.
The People's Action Party's (PAP) First Assistant Secretary-General said the country has a transparent elections system.
And he urged opposition parties to exercise this same transparency by introducing their new candidates to Singaporeans.
The PAP had so far introduced 15 new candidates and Mr Wong said opposition parties should not wait till Parliament is dissolved before doing the same.
"What we want the voters to know is, who are the people before them who will contest the election. They know the new candidates we are introducing but we see no signs of any of the opposition MPs other than the few individuals going on house visits," said DPM Wong.
"Apart from that, what do Singaporeans or the voters in those constituencies know of the opposition candidates? Very little. It's not just those voters in the constituencies but also Singaporeans in general, so that they can assess whether the political party concerned is bringing in people of quality and character," added Mr Wong.
Mr Wong also spoke about the fight for Potong Pasir and Hougang, both single seat constituencies currently held by the opposition.
He said some people had interpreted the Prime Mnnister asking Senior Minister Goh to help in the two wards as a sign that the PAP wanted to secure a clean sweep in the upcoming General Election.
Mr Wong explained: "It just means that we fight seriously in every constituency because we owe it to the PAP supporters who are in every constituency. We will not put up a token fight and deliberately lose to the opposition."
As to calls by some opposition parties for election monitors, Mr Wong said voters, candidates and their election agents could see for themselves what is happening at polling stations and that it has been the same transparent system all these years. [and the reason Singapore is a one party state?]
Meanwhile, [blah, blah, blah ...]
4 comments:
of course it is transparent: we all know who will win beforehand, though the election date is only known last minute
(in most countries parties are forever campaigning for the next election but the result is known only last minute)
WKS is a complete waste of time and oxygen.
Hey Mr Wong, the more you justify, the more suspicious I get.
"The lady doth protest too much".
Wong Kan Seng is so transparent he probably has to bang his wife every night just to get some sleep. "No dear, I said something about swinging the arm, not the dick." ... "No dear, the dick can't possibly flatten the nose." ... "No dear, it's not the same." ... "No dear, whilst I don't deny that it hurts just as much ..." ... "No dear, my mother never foresaw my needs when coming up with my name way back when ..."
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