GE: Workers' Party says manifesto is revenue-neutral in many areas
By Imelda Saad | Posted: 13 April 2011 2333 hrs
SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party has defended its manifesto, saying it welcomes public scrutiny because it wants to be transparent - a response to PAP's call for Singaporeans to take a close look at the manifesto of opposition parties.
One area highlighted (by the PAP) was how the Workers' Party would fund some of its proposals.
At a forum aired on Channel NewsAsia Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had taken issue with what he called a "welfare system" the Workers' Party seemed to be proposing.
In response, the Workers' Party said it did not produce its manifesto on the basis that there was a "bottomless pit of money to spend".
It has in fact advocated for spending cuts in many areas, and what it is calling for, is the re-allocation of resources.
"We did consider the cost impact of a lot of these proposals. In fact we counted we have about 220 over proposals inside and of those, the vast majority of them do not entail any spending increases, they are just revenue-neutral," said Mr Gerald Giam, assistant webmaster and Worker's Party executive council member.
- CNA/cc
By Imelda Saad | Posted: 13 April 2011 2333 hrs
SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party has defended its manifesto, saying it welcomes public scrutiny because it wants to be transparent - a response to PAP's call for Singaporeans to take a close look at the manifesto of opposition parties.
One area highlighted (by the PAP) was how the Workers' Party would fund some of its proposals.
At a forum aired on Channel NewsAsia Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had taken issue with what he called a "welfare system" the Workers' Party seemed to be proposing.
In response, the Workers' Party said it did not produce its manifesto on the basis that there was a "bottomless pit of money to spend".
It has in fact advocated for spending cuts in many areas, and what it is calling for, is the re-allocation of resources.
"We did consider the cost impact of a lot of these proposals. In fact we counted we have about 220 over proposals inside and of those, the vast majority of them do not entail any spending increases, they are just revenue-neutral," said Mr Gerald Giam, assistant webmaster and Worker's Party executive council member.
- CNA/cc
