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| Potong Pasir Petition |
Their ruminations came a day after the party lost six seats to the opposition and recorded a 60.1 percent vote share, its lowest since Independence.
The newly elected MPs made their way in lorries around Singapore to thank voters, but the reflective mood was never far beneath the smiles and waves.
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, whose team in Marine Parade GRC garnered a lower than expected 56.6 percent of the votes against a team from the National Solidarity Party, said his PAP team would have to better identify its constituents' problems.
There was a growing desire among Singaporeans to “have more alternative voices in Parliament,” he said. 'You could feel the tide ... that tide was very strong.'
In Moulmein-Kallang GRC, where the PAP scored 58.6 percent of the votes, anchor minister and PAP vice-chairman Yaacob Ibrahim felt that his team might not have connected well enough with its growing population of younger Singaporeans.
They would now look into how they can understand the concerns of young voters, he said.
Meanwhile, speaking from Jakarta where he was representing Singapore at the Asean summit, Senior Minister S. Jayakumar called the results of the May 7 polls “a major step in the evolution of our parliamentary and political system.”
“Nothing is static. Things will change and with every change we need to ensure that it is for the positive and not negative,” said the former anchor minister for East Coast GRC.
Professor Jayakumar, 71, retired from politics just before the General Election, after 30 years in office.
The PAP team in East Coast GRC is now helmed by labor chief Lim Swee Say, and scored 54.8 percent of the votes against a team from the Workers' Party.
The PAP lost Aljunied GRC to the WP's star team led by WP leader Low Thia Khiang. The loss means that the PAP Government will have to find a new foreign minister as Mr George Yeo was the anchor minister in Aljunied.
Seeing a silver lining in the results cloud, Prof Jayakumar argued that the results showed that the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system did not stifle the opposition.
“The criticisms that have been made about us and our system, that it stifles the opposition, that the GRCs perpetuate the ruling party... Well, they have been proven wrong, because the system works,” he said.
He also pointed to comments made by other Asean leaders at the summit, which showed how perspectives can differ.
“Some of them quipped that, look, 81 out of 87 seats, 60 percent of the popular vote? Prime Minister's margin increased to 69 percent in his own ward? PAP got back the constituency that had been occupied by the opposition for some time? They thought it was a big win and quipped that they would like to have that kind of a win in their countries!” he said.
Jayakumar, who was Yeo's predecessor as Foreign Minister, was unable to shed light on Yeo's future role, saying it would be up to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to decide.
Yeo “has many talents and abilities,” and “I would not want to come across as writing an obituary of the demise of his talents and of his role,” said Jayakumar. He stressed that the important thing is for Singapore to be able to meet the challenges ahead.
“I support what PM said, that after the dust has settled, after the sound and fury of the elections have died down, it is important that Singaporeans, whatever their views were on the parliamentary elections, that we come and pull together as one people,” he said.
On the opposition front, WP leader Low Thia Khiang seemed to agree with the call to national unity, saying that his party believed in a brand of opposition politics that is rational, respected and responsible.
“As society matures and becomes civilized, I think Singaporeans want political engagement to be done in a civilized manner,” he told The Straits Times.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, speaking after a Tanjong Pagar GRC “thank you” parade, however took exception to the WP's claims.
“You believe the Workers' Party is in Parliament to help the good of Singaporeans or to oppose the PAP?” he said to reporters last night.
Chiam See Tong, at 76, the opposition's oldest and longest-serving MP, made clear on Sunday that while he might be down, he was not out.
His bid for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC might have failed this year, he said, but it was an “unfinished battle” and he “would never surrender.”
Meanwhile, some 1,200 Potong Pasir residents got together on Sunday to petition for him to return as MP for the single seat ward, which was won by the PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin on Saturday.
Chiam's response was pragmatic. “Well, I'm a lawyer and I should know the law. There is no provision for a by-election. So I don't know how they are going to do it. Unless they know some loophole somewhere,” he said.
