<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Any more doubt the Papayas and Papabyes oppose the Oppos for the sake of opposing?
Opposition is best check against graft? MPs rebut Low's claim
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Zakir Hussain
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-- ST FILE PHOTO
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->WORKERS' Party chief Low Thia Khiang's claim that only an elected opposition can provide effective checks and balances and ensure a clean government was rebutted by two People's Action Party (PAP) MPs yesterday.
Ms Indranee Rajah (Tanjong Pagar GRC) said this assumption was not only simplistic, but also plain incorrect.
For if this were true, why is it that many other countries with multi-party systems still see deep-seated and endemic corruption, she asked.
=> At least their corruption is being exposed and this is a check in itself. And what about the majority of non-one-party govts which are clean? And has she not heard of leegalized corruption?
More often than not, an opposition wins against a corrupt incumbent, and then itself becomes corrupt when in government, said Mrs Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC).
On Monday, Mr Low (Hougang) had noted that the ruling party controls the House and key levers of power, and that with a weak opposition presence, Singapore's democracy resembled a 'one-legged duck'.
Commenting on remarks by President SR Nathan on how Singapore politics had to evolve over time, Mr Low said more opposition MPs would help ensure a non-corrupt government.
Ms Rajah's counter: Going by this argument, the logical outcome is that 'every other country with an opposition should be squeaky clean and Singapore should be the most corrupt country in the world'.
=> Is it not the case? Leegally speaking.
This is not the case, she pointed out. In fact, Singapore today is widely regarded as having one of the least corrupt systems in the world.
This, she said, is because MPs hold their positions in trust for the people, PAP leaders expect the highest standards of integrity, and there are inherent checks and balances in the system.
She noted that after the last general election in 2006, the Prime Minister wrote to all PAP MPs to remind them of their responsibility and accountability to the people, and the need to maintain honesty and integrity. 'These are the things that keep us on the straight and narrow, not the fact that there is an opposition,' she stressed.
'It's the value system that we have, the concept of an honest, clean government with integrity, which is a concept that was advanced and implemented by the PAP from the time of internal self-government and independence to today,' she said.
And if one day, the PAP were to abuse its powers, 'then the people are at liberty to vote out the PAP Government'.
Ms Rajah said Mr Low's suggestion that people had better vote for the opposition now, in case the PAP becomes corrupt in future, was flawed. 'People cannot vote on the basis of speculation. People have to vote on the basis of track record and trust. That trust must be earned and kept by our politicians at every stage of the way,' she said.
She added that Singaporeans know what they vote for, and do not hesitate to make their views known if they do not approve of something, as events at the National Kidney Foundation and, more recently, Aware showed.
I dare u to disagree! *chey*
Turning to Mr Low's suggestion that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau could not play an effective checking role, as it was under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Ms Rajah said it was under the PMO so that it did not have to report to other ministers. By going straight to the top, it could perform its duties without fear or favour.
She also rejected Mr Low's suggestion that the opposition needed geographical constituencies to appreciate the people's real concerns. 'If the opposition wishes to have a geographical constituency, then like the PAP, it must work and earn it,' she said.
'Many people ask the PAP Government for many things, but surely here a line must be drawn. The opposition must take responsibility for its own growth,' she added.
Speaking in Mandarin and English, Mrs Teo said there were few countries where non-corrupt parties, once elected, manage to flush out corrupt parties and clean up the system.
'The better strategy is to work assiduously to preserve a corruption-free political system, and to keep up a political culture of zero tolerance for the corrupt,' she said. She added: 'Is it better for Singapore to support an opposition, even if it is not up to mark, in the hope that it could govern well when it overthrows a corrupt PAP, or is it better to make sure that the PAP does not fail Singaporeans, that it has the strongest team to serve Singaporeans?'
Opposition is best check against graft? MPs rebut Low's claim
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Zakir Hussain
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
-- ST FILE PHOTO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->WORKERS' Party chief Low Thia Khiang's claim that only an elected opposition can provide effective checks and balances and ensure a clean government was rebutted by two People's Action Party (PAP) MPs yesterday.
Ms Indranee Rajah (Tanjong Pagar GRC) said this assumption was not only simplistic, but also plain incorrect.
For if this were true, why is it that many other countries with multi-party systems still see deep-seated and endemic corruption, she asked.
=> At least their corruption is being exposed and this is a check in itself. And what about the majority of non-one-party govts which are clean? And has she not heard of leegalized corruption?
More often than not, an opposition wins against a corrupt incumbent, and then itself becomes corrupt when in government, said Mrs Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC).
On Monday, Mr Low (Hougang) had noted that the ruling party controls the House and key levers of power, and that with a weak opposition presence, Singapore's democracy resembled a 'one-legged duck'.
Commenting on remarks by President SR Nathan on how Singapore politics had to evolve over time, Mr Low said more opposition MPs would help ensure a non-corrupt government.
Ms Rajah's counter: Going by this argument, the logical outcome is that 'every other country with an opposition should be squeaky clean and Singapore should be the most corrupt country in the world'.
=> Is it not the case? Leegally speaking.
This is not the case, she pointed out. In fact, Singapore today is widely regarded as having one of the least corrupt systems in the world.
This, she said, is because MPs hold their positions in trust for the people, PAP leaders expect the highest standards of integrity, and there are inherent checks and balances in the system.
She noted that after the last general election in 2006, the Prime Minister wrote to all PAP MPs to remind them of their responsibility and accountability to the people, and the need to maintain honesty and integrity. 'These are the things that keep us on the straight and narrow, not the fact that there is an opposition,' she stressed.
'It's the value system that we have, the concept of an honest, clean government with integrity, which is a concept that was advanced and implemented by the PAP from the time of internal self-government and independence to today,' she said.
And if one day, the PAP were to abuse its powers, 'then the people are at liberty to vote out the PAP Government'.
Ms Rajah said Mr Low's suggestion that people had better vote for the opposition now, in case the PAP becomes corrupt in future, was flawed. 'People cannot vote on the basis of speculation. People have to vote on the basis of track record and trust. That trust must be earned and kept by our politicians at every stage of the way,' she said.
She added that Singaporeans know what they vote for, and do not hesitate to make their views known if they do not approve of something, as events at the National Kidney Foundation and, more recently, Aware showed.
I dare u to disagree! *chey*
Turning to Mr Low's suggestion that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau could not play an effective checking role, as it was under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Ms Rajah said it was under the PMO so that it did not have to report to other ministers. By going straight to the top, it could perform its duties without fear or favour.
She also rejected Mr Low's suggestion that the opposition needed geographical constituencies to appreciate the people's real concerns. 'If the opposition wishes to have a geographical constituency, then like the PAP, it must work and earn it,' she said.
'Many people ask the PAP Government for many things, but surely here a line must be drawn. The opposition must take responsibility for its own growth,' she added.
Speaking in Mandarin and English, Mrs Teo said there were few countries where non-corrupt parties, once elected, manage to flush out corrupt parties and clean up the system.
'The better strategy is to work assiduously to preserve a corruption-free political system, and to keep up a political culture of zero tolerance for the corrupt,' she said. She added: 'Is it better for Singapore to support an opposition, even if it is not up to mark, in the hope that it could govern well when it overthrows a corrupt PAP, or is it better to make sure that the PAP does not fail Singaporeans, that it has the strongest team to serve Singaporeans?'
