SPP, SDP criticise timing of announcement
By Tessa Wong
TWO opposition parties have criticised Singapore's two former prime ministers for the timing of the announcement that they are leaving the Cabinet.
Said Mr Chiam See Tong, secretary-general of the Singapore People's Party (SPP): 'The question is: Why now, and not five years later? I think MM and SM owe an explanation to the public on this point.'
It is the 'fair' thing to do, Mr Chiam added, arguing that the outcome of the polls would probably have been different if voters had known before the election that Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, 69, and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, 87, were planning to step down as ministers.
His party would probably have won in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, he said, and added: 'In Marine Parade, they would not have gotten in if Goh Chok Tong was stepping down.'
Mr Goh's People's Action Party team won the GRC, beating a National Solidarity Party team.
Like many Singaporeans, Mr Chiam was taken by surprise when he heard the news, he told reporters at an SPP event in Bishan Park.
On Saturday, about a week after the election, SM Goh and MM Lee announced their desire to depart, so as to give Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his team a 'fresh, clean slate' to carry Singapore forward.
At a separate event in Ghim Moh, a member of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) who contested in the recent polls called on PM Lee to be 'fair' to voters by holding by-elections in the GRCs helmed by the two ministers.
Said Mr Tan Jee Say, whose team lost in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC: 'Voters of Tanjong Pagar and Marine Parade may have voted for (MM Lee and SM Goh) on the basis that they continue to be Cabinet ministers.
'Now that they have stepped down, shouldn't by-elections be held?'
Mr Tan, who was SM Goh's principal private secretary from 1985 to 1990, also called for the two ministers to step down from other public sector positions.
'If they're really serious about giving their new leadership a free hand, they should step down from all government positions, including GIC,' said Mr Tan.
MM Lee chairs the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, a sovereign wealth fund, while SM Goh is chairman of financial regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Later, the SDP said on its website: 'If the motivation is for the younger generation to take over the leadership of politics in Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew should completely retire from the political scene.
'The clean break would truly signal a new beginning for politics in Singapore and for democracy to start its belated development.'
The party also called for the two positions, as well as that of ministers in the Prime Minister's Office, to be abolished. It estimated such a move would save the Government $15 million a year in salaries, which it said could go to helping the needy.
The SDP also said the MM and SM posts have 'served no useful purpose except to drain the national budget'.
By Tessa Wong
TWO opposition parties have criticised Singapore's two former prime ministers for the timing of the announcement that they are leaving the Cabinet.
Said Mr Chiam See Tong, secretary-general of the Singapore People's Party (SPP): 'The question is: Why now, and not five years later? I think MM and SM owe an explanation to the public on this point.'
It is the 'fair' thing to do, Mr Chiam added, arguing that the outcome of the polls would probably have been different if voters had known before the election that Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, 69, and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, 87, were planning to step down as ministers.
His party would probably have won in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, he said, and added: 'In Marine Parade, they would not have gotten in if Goh Chok Tong was stepping down.'
Mr Goh's People's Action Party team won the GRC, beating a National Solidarity Party team.
Like many Singaporeans, Mr Chiam was taken by surprise when he heard the news, he told reporters at an SPP event in Bishan Park.
On Saturday, about a week after the election, SM Goh and MM Lee announced their desire to depart, so as to give Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his team a 'fresh, clean slate' to carry Singapore forward.
At a separate event in Ghim Moh, a member of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) who contested in the recent polls called on PM Lee to be 'fair' to voters by holding by-elections in the GRCs helmed by the two ministers.
Said Mr Tan Jee Say, whose team lost in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC: 'Voters of Tanjong Pagar and Marine Parade may have voted for (MM Lee and SM Goh) on the basis that they continue to be Cabinet ministers.
'Now that they have stepped down, shouldn't by-elections be held?'
Mr Tan, who was SM Goh's principal private secretary from 1985 to 1990, also called for the two ministers to step down from other public sector positions.
'If they're really serious about giving their new leadership a free hand, they should step down from all government positions, including GIC,' said Mr Tan.
MM Lee chairs the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, a sovereign wealth fund, while SM Goh is chairman of financial regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Later, the SDP said on its website: 'If the motivation is for the younger generation to take over the leadership of politics in Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew should completely retire from the political scene.
'The clean break would truly signal a new beginning for politics in Singapore and for democracy to start its belated development.'
The party also called for the two positions, as well as that of ministers in the Prime Minister's Office, to be abolished. It estimated such a move would save the Government $15 million a year in salaries, which it said could go to helping the needy.
The SDP also said the MM and SM posts have 'served no useful purpose except to drain the national budget'.
Sinkapore had not seen a by election for decades ever since the PAP took control
