SDP opposes “cooling-off” day and calls for a genuine electoral process
Written by Our Correspondent
The Singapore Democratic Party has lambasted the “cooling-off” day proposed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as another attempt to “manipulate the already opaque and unfair electoral process” in order to “handicap” the opposition.
The move was announced yesterday by PM Lee and would be introduced in the next general election due by 2012.
All mass rallies, door-to-door visits and public display of party symbols will be banned on the eve of polling day while the mainstream media is permitted to carry news on the election.
SDP Chairman Gandhi Ambalam felt that this “will give the ruling party more opprtunity to disseminate its news while the opposition has no such means.”
He challenged the PAP to ban all political party broadcasts and news reports on polling day itself.
SDP also calls for a genuine electoral process that would include an independent elections commission, a free and independent media and at least three weeks for electoral campaigning.
Singapore’s electoral commission is under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Office as well as the Electoral Boundary Commission which enables the ruling party to redraw the electoral boundaries of constituencies at will to suit their own partisan interests.
The mass media remains tightly controlled by the ruling party which has become its propaganda mouthpiece.
Before 1963, the campaigning period for the legislative council elections in 1955 and 1959 used to stretch for as along as three months.
The minimum campaign period of 9-day was introduced in the 1963 elections by the PAP government to thwart the chances of the opposition Barisan Sosialist.
The opposition has long complained about the short campaigning period which hampers their efforts to reach out to the voters to discuss the real issues of the day affecting their lives.
The agenda of the 2006 elections waas hijacked by “Gomezgate” which saw the PAP leaders and mass media firing their guns at the hapless Workers’ Party candidate continuously for one entire week thereby diverting public attention from important national issues.
After the PAP won the last election with a “resounding” mandate, the salaries of ministers were increased, GST was raised to 7 per cent and the floodgates are opened for foreigners who now made up 36 per cent of the population, up from 14 per cent in 1990.
Mr Gandhi wrote that “without these changes and as long as the rules and regulations continue to be changed to benefit the PAP, elections in Singapore will remain a charade staged by the ruling party to hoodwink the people once every four or five years.”
According to U.S. NGO Freedom House, Singapore is not an “electoral democracy” as it lacks the other important ”pillars” of democracy such as a free and independent press, a robust civil society and an informed citizenry.
Unless Singaporeans vote enough opposition MPs into parliament to deny the PAP its traditional two-thirds majority, it will continue to fiddle around with the rules to entrench itself firmly in power.
Loading ...
Time for Change on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 11:13 am
Well, they can do whatever they want but I am voting for change. Nothing is going to change that.
Rainnix on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 11:55 am
Shameless ploy one after another!
boss on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 2:04 pm
Please la. This is a standard practice is many democratic countries. People are given a certain amount of time after campaigns end.
Old Guy on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 2:21 pm
that one day cooling off period is actually useless..
people have already made up their minds..
if you are trying to cool the hotheaded ones,
how many are there of those people?
what if people actually want to vote for PAP and
then become vote for opposition instead because of the cooling period?
silence on that day, people might just want to change that and
vote for opposition instead..
PAP will hurt itself having this cooling period more than if there were no cooling time..
we’ll see !!
dog jumps over the wall on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 2:50 pm
would PAP leaders salaries be increased after the election?
fair and square on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 3:17 pm
In sports,sometimes,we give the weaker opponent an adavantage;even the odds we palced in Singapore Pools Soccer bets are in favour of weaker teams.
our famed and prestigious PAP has all the igredients of the
advantaged team with the seemingly top brains of this tiny
island-the Predident Scholars,PSC scholars,Fulbright scholars and scholars of all kinds ,what more advantage do you need to
win the GE?
Come on,be SPORTY,BE A GOOD SPORT,will you?
Traditional Singaporeans... on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 3:22 pm
DON’T BE DumB one for time as this may be your very LAST Time STOP the pappy FROM TAKING and RIPPING YOUR lives APART BIT BY BIT… Little By Little!!!…
THIS IS… WAKE UP CALL!!! Take heed or PERISH even your own children to salvery till death meets them at a time though you may not beable to SEE THE ROT YOU’ve PUT THEM IN IN THIS COMING GE!!!… As though you may be dead by then when they are old… but DO YOU Want the, AND your grandchildrem to blame or even curse you for…
‘hijacking their lives for the pappy you have always talked good about???
citizen on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 3:41 pm
We all know what will happen after erections.
1) GST increase
2) ERP increase
3) Income tax increase
4) Prices of basic necessities increase
5) Number of foreigners and PRs increase
6) HDB prices increase
7) Minister’s pay increase
Anymore to add?
Emb on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 3:51 pm
First the month long campaign cut to few days, then campaign fund donation personal details for certain amount has to be resisted, the GRC, the lift upgrading threat and now the cooling off. What dont make cooling period one month or one year? I smell blood somehow.
Imagine if some one is going to take away your million dollar annual income, what will you do? A self-fish guy will use all means to make sure she keeps her millions even at the expense of sending all voter to hell.
We are promised a swiss standard of living and hong bao b4 election but after every election, GST increase from 3% to 7%, bus & taxi fare up, carpark fee up, HDB housing up, medical bill up, utility up, property tax up, living expenses up, MP income up but our salary down. They have already recoup back the hong bao given to you.
So please wake up. Thank You
sleepy on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 4:04 pm
wake up pls……
why are we even discussing on this topic??
as if we have a chance to cast a vote?
….
i am 32 & not having a chance to even see how a vote paper look like?
qussl3 on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 4:14 pm
So what if the incumbents are changing the rules of the game?
This happens EVERYWHERE.
What they want you to do is complain.
What they DONT want you to do is BE CREATIVE and work out a way to turn such obstacles into an ADVANTAGE.
Someone please think outside the box, it is getting really really old.
Vote of Opposition on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 4:25 pm
SDP’s point is valid here!
Especially the election department is not independence at all because it under the PMO!
Please remember to vote them out so that changes can be facilitated for the good future of Singapore. I had been seriously thinking of moving to overseas if the stupid policies under PAP still does not change!
jkoh2007 on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 4:35 pm
this proof that the last general election was too HOT!! for PAP That they need cooling off period
The Patriot on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 4:45 pm
This time, even the opposition party place a monkey as a candidate, I will still vote for the opposition.
BryanT on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 4:56 pm
@qussl3 on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 4:14 pm
“What they want you to do is complain. What they DONT want you to do is BE CREATIVE and work out a way to turn such obstacles into an ADVANTAGE. Someone please think outside the box, it is getting really really old.”
You are partly right in urging the opposition to “please think outside the box”. Ambalam is already resigned to the fact that in terms of news dissemination during the cooling-down period, “the opposition has no such means.” What about the SDP’s much vaunted reach via the alternative media?
The defeatist attitude here is reinforced by the propensity to complain about the election system at every opportunity. I agree that the system is tilted towards the incumbent, but the incessant complaining is meant to hide the reality that SDP has little appeal to the main bulk of the electorate.
This is the diversion that it employs on its part, in place of offering us some original and imaginative ideas. What we get are constant harpings on nebulous freedoms and democratic ideals.
A minor correction to what you said. You said that “what they want you to do is complain.” Nobody wants the opposition to dwell on and on complaining, and nobody can prevent the opposition from being creative to “turn such obstacles into an ADVANTAGE”. Only it can choose to do so itself.
Political SalesMaN on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 5:08 pm
@dog jumps over the wall. certainly if they won this Election again ! nothing to complain about,Voter vote 4 them it mean they are satify with their policy.
As for Vote for opposition, U know Singapore belongs to the FamiLEE,insitution, clan, Temple what ever fully control by the FamiLEE.Is only up to the Voter are determine to vote for a “Total Change”. Unseat the PAP.
fair and square on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 5:21 pm
@quasi13,BryanT
Let the ones,yourselves included,who never VOICE out a VALID COMPLAINT ever in their lifetime “complain” to us that yu never ever complain???…what you just did are some kind complaints too,are they not?
there are complaints and even our PAP ministers do complain!!!
but whilst we,the common citizens voice sincerely our VALID COMPLAINTS,what they and both of you folks do is complain for complaining sake!!!
mafia democracy? on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 5:26 pm
The Patriot on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 4:45 pm
“This time, even the opposition party place a monkey as a candidate, I will still vote for the opposition.”
Exactly right on.
Where there is a GRC, all voters should just vote opposition and demolish the GRC crab to our CREATIVE advantage. Don’t bother to complain about unfair rules and certainly no need to consider anything else.
Jobless on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 5:26 pm
The Patriot on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 4:45 pm
“This time, even the opposition party place a monkey as a candidate, I will still vote for the opposition”.
I absolutely agree with you. We have suffered greatly during the past 50 years and I think we desperately need to put a stop to it.
We badly need more opposition in parliament or it is the end of the road for Singaporeans.
Jobless on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 5:31 pm
This shameless ploy will not work.
Whenever I step out of my house I see 2 million reasons why I should vote for change.
Broadly, they can be put into 3 groups:
1) Foreign workers
2) Permanent residents
3) New citizens
Cooling-off period or not, there will always be 2 million reasons why I will vote for the opposition.
qussl3 on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 5:44 pm
@BryanT
I agree largely with your points.
What would be interesting to see is whether local opposition parties will take a leaf out of the obama playbook and actively use social media to publicize their policy positions or whether they will attempt the same old with likely the same results.
qussl3 on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 5:49 pm
@fair and square
If you would look beyond your own vitriol, you’d notice that you and I agree on more than you realize.
VOTEWISE on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 9:42 pm
@qussi13 @ 5.49 pm
excuse me if i misread your intention.
i hope we all could learn form each other.
ten on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 9:44 pm
SDP is most progressive of all local opposition parties..
Clear Minded on Wed, 2nd Dec 2009 9:54 pm
Hey guys!!! We know Ho Jin has drained off all our reserves and next GST hike and ministers increments are on the list. PAP needs that mandate because currently they dare not touch the GST for fear of backslash. If PAP is given mandate again, GST will increase immediately to at least 10%. That will aggravate the already high cost of livings. Besides, they have deferred their million dollars salaries increment, once election is over, they will happily shot up their salaries again, as they did so after announcing 7% GST hike.
Not the least, there will be a host of price hike which may also include our conservancy charges and singtel bill….
As if life has not suffered enough while Singaporeans wages are depressed by foreigners.
As a loyal Singaporean and a very concerned citizens, PAP is not the party we want anymore. In private sector, such party would have been sacked for the benefit of everyone survival.
PAP is "DRYING UP"!!!... on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 9:16 am
And THIS… IS what an old guy who used to believe in them and who don’t know how to use computers said to me!!!…
SO PLEASE Know that GST IS a ‘SHARP and LIMITLESS TAX Tool’ and only Voters can BLUNT it once every FIVE years at the Polls!!!…
Lim Boon Heng was NTUC Secretary-General before Lim Swee Say ‘SAY’ took over. He had then once said that UK’s VAT was at 18% and we were complain about our GST going UP from 3-5%!!!…
This guy like ALL Pappies know that many Ah Bengs & Ah Lians, Ah Sohs, Ah Chek, Ah Pek, Ah Lau, Ah Mm, even PMETs who have NOT checked this out… DON’T KNOW ABOUT THIS AT ALL!!!… Cons OR not!!!…
So… WHY DO Singaporeans KEEP VOTING IN “CONS’ INTO THEIR NATION PARLIAMENT… THE HIGHEST MEETING VENUE FOR VALUS AFFECTING OUR “ORDINARY” PEOPLE’S LIVES???… Beats me as those VOTED till the pappy could PUT IN ALMOST COMPLETE “STRANGHOLDS” INTO OUR GE VOTING SYSTEM!!!…
THUS… It IS… NO WONDER THAT pappy and his pappies see US as Somewhat DUMB… AS… WITHOUT THE INTERNET… WE WON’T HAVE ANY TOOLS TO COMBAT THEIR “DECEPTIONS”… As few Singaporeans dare utter a word even at HDN void decks!!!…
WHY… BECAUSE they heard that there’s a LAW that even Outlaws ONE Person from Speaking LOUDLY as an “UnLawful ASSEMBLY”???… DOES THIS FLY IN THE FACE OF OXFORD ENGLISH ANF FROM SUCH A ‘learned’ graduate lawyer FROM THERE!!!…
YOU DECIDE!!!… AS ALL WE CAN DO IS “ADVISE” YOU “NAIVE” ONES ABOUT pappy’s & pappies’ ‘ILL-advises’!!!…
They reported Oct 2009 Consumer Price Index or CPI DIPPED 0.8%!!!
Believe this guys???… When NTUC’s “UNfAIRpRICEs” of brand good having going UP and UP and Up and UP and UP and UP for the last 5-6 months!!!… CHECK IT OUT by scanning your bills from their stores and lod them into your computers to show them to us here in TR!!!… I’ve shared about an still waiting for contributions!!!…
ACTIONS “DO” SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!!!
Fearful of ghosts on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 9:57 am
PAP is “DRYING UP”!!!… on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 9:16 am
“They reported Oct 2009 Consumer Price Index or CPI DIPPED 0.8%!!!”
ARE YOU SURE THAT IS NOT TRUE????
LET ME TELL YOU THE TRUTH AND WHOLE TRUTH!!!!!!!! It was compiled by ghosts.
You don’t believe me??