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The PAP MPs have jumped to the defence of the “cooling-off” day proposed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to enable voters to make a “rational” decision on who to vote for.
No mass rallies, door-to-door visits or public display of party symbols will be allowed on the eve of polling day.
The new rule, to be introduced in the next election due by 2012, will extend to cyberspace as well.
The opposition has complained that the “cooling-off” day will give an unfair advantage to the PAP since the the mainstream media which is largely pro-government, will still be allowed to report news on the election.
Opposition and Hougang MP Mr Low Thia Kiang believes this would give the PAP an edge.
‘For instance, if opposition parties campaign on issues of health care and public housing policy and managed to get the message across to the voters, the government department or relevant civil servants can always come out on the day of the cooling period with some announcement of policy changes or explanation to counter what opposition parties said during the campaign period, in an attempt to sway public opinion,’ he said in an email interview with Straits Times.
Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, PAP MP for Aljunied GRC, dismissed the concerns of Mr Low. He felt that the mass media had been fair and balanced in its election coverage during the 2006 elections.
While Mr Low opined that PM Lee’s concerns over public disorder is an ‘over-imagination’, Mr Ong Kian Min, PAP MP for Tampines GRC, argues that the long-running political strife in Thailand shows Singapore cannot take for granted the calm it has seen in recent elections.
Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office thinks that it is important to give voters an extra day to “reflect” on their decision.
“Choosing your representative in Parliament is a serious matter. So I think it is a good idea to allow people to reflect what has been said during the campaign period and then to make a considered decision on how they would vote on Polling Day.
A 24-hour reflection shouldn’t make people forget about the essentials of the campaign. It will make a difference when emotions are stirred up too high for whatever reasons. It is not something new that we have thought up. It is something which has been adopted in some countries too,” he said.
YPAP Chairman Teo Ser Luck claimed that the “cooling-off” day will have minimal impact on the election in a report on Channel News Asia:
“I think cooling-off could be good, whether for the opposition or the main party to consolidate and take a breather and to review their positioning.
I don’t believe it would have that great an impact on anyone. It would give people some time to consider but, as I say, some of them would have decided before the nine days of campaigning begin.
And a lot of Singaporeans would almost look at the whole GE as uneventful, as their life would go on as per normal. But for another segment of the society, it would impact. But I wouldn’t look at it as the majority,” he said.
Only Aljunied MP Zainul Abidin Rasheed is a bit more circumspect. He suggested PAP ministers and MPs stop making speeches on the day itself to ensure the new system is fair to all.
The electoral system was never fair to the opposition in the first place. The mainstream media is controlled by the ruling party which tends to portray its candidates in a positive light.
Furthermore, the electoral boundary commission under the Prime Minister’s Office allows the PAP to redraw the electoral boundaries of constituencies at will to suit its own partisan interests.
Unless there are genuine reforms made to level the playing field, the opposition will always be fighting the battle on bended knees.
No mass rallies, door-to-door visits or public display of party symbols will be allowed on the eve of polling day.
The new rule, to be introduced in the next election due by 2012, will extend to cyberspace as well.
The opposition has complained that the “cooling-off” day will give an unfair advantage to the PAP since the the mainstream media which is largely pro-government, will still be allowed to report news on the election.
Opposition and Hougang MP Mr Low Thia Kiang believes this would give the PAP an edge.
‘For instance, if opposition parties campaign on issues of health care and public housing policy and managed to get the message across to the voters, the government department or relevant civil servants can always come out on the day of the cooling period with some announcement of policy changes or explanation to counter what opposition parties said during the campaign period, in an attempt to sway public opinion,’ he said in an email interview with Straits Times.
Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, PAP MP for Aljunied GRC, dismissed the concerns of Mr Low. He felt that the mass media had been fair and balanced in its election coverage during the 2006 elections.
While Mr Low opined that PM Lee’s concerns over public disorder is an ‘over-imagination’, Mr Ong Kian Min, PAP MP for Tampines GRC, argues that the long-running political strife in Thailand shows Singapore cannot take for granted the calm it has seen in recent elections.
Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office thinks that it is important to give voters an extra day to “reflect” on their decision.
“Choosing your representative in Parliament is a serious matter. So I think it is a good idea to allow people to reflect what has been said during the campaign period and then to make a considered decision on how they would vote on Polling Day.
A 24-hour reflection shouldn’t make people forget about the essentials of the campaign. It will make a difference when emotions are stirred up too high for whatever reasons. It is not something new that we have thought up. It is something which has been adopted in some countries too,” he said.
YPAP Chairman Teo Ser Luck claimed that the “cooling-off” day will have minimal impact on the election in a report on Channel News Asia:
“I think cooling-off could be good, whether for the opposition or the main party to consolidate and take a breather and to review their positioning.
I don’t believe it would have that great an impact on anyone. It would give people some time to consider but, as I say, some of them would have decided before the nine days of campaigning begin.
And a lot of Singaporeans would almost look at the whole GE as uneventful, as their life would go on as per normal. But for another segment of the society, it would impact. But I wouldn’t look at it as the majority,” he said.
Only Aljunied MP Zainul Abidin Rasheed is a bit more circumspect. He suggested PAP ministers and MPs stop making speeches on the day itself to ensure the new system is fair to all.
The electoral system was never fair to the opposition in the first place. The mainstream media is controlled by the ruling party which tends to portray its candidates in a positive light.
Furthermore, the electoral boundary commission under the Prime Minister’s Office allows the PAP to redraw the electoral boundaries of constituencies at will to suit its own partisan interests.
Unless there are genuine reforms made to level the playing field, the opposition will always be fighting the battle on bended knees.
