PAP’s policies have sidelined Singaporeans: RP

SINGAPORE — Reform Party (RP) secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam yesterday (Sept 2) challenged Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s description of the Republic as a society with “unique solutions” that work well.

Speaking to TODAY after a walkabout in West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC), in which his party is contesting again, Mr Jeyaretnam charged that the People’s Action Party (PAP) had “run out of new ideas other than to bring in foreign workers”.

He had made the same point during a televised forum on Tuesday, when he said the PAP had only a “simple model” of importing foreign workers and generating economic growth.

During a press conference held earlier that day after candidates filed their nomination papers, Mr Lee, who is secretary-general of the PAP, cited a report by political-risk consultancy Eurasia Group that described Singapore as a “unicorn”.

“(We are a) one-of-a-kind, miraculous animal ... And it works well, it has unique solutions and the rest of the world is not sure what to make of it,” he said.

The comment drew Mr Jeyaretnam to retort yesterday: “Works well for whom? Do the ‘unique solutions’ benefit the people or the People’s Action Party?”

He said the ruling party’s policies have attracted foreign workers and multinational companies here, but Singaporeans have been sidelined as a result.

Mr Jeyaretnam also argued that the Republic’s economy is on the cusp of a recession, and that the RP has been calling for the Government to step up domestic spending to counter it.

“Actually, it’s not working well. Stock markets are collapsing ... (The Prime Minister) knows it’s not working well. That’s why he has called the election early,” he added.

Accompanied by team-mates Ms Noraini Yunus and Mr Darren Soh, Mr Jeyaretnam spent about an hour at Clementi Street 2 yesterday morning, giving out party flyers at a hawker centre and making house visits.

RP chairman Andy Zhu, who is the fourth member of the team, was absent as he needed to run administrative errands for the party, said Mr Jeyaretnam.

Asked about his opponent, Mr S Iswaran, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, flagging an error in the RP’s nomination papers on Tuesday and hence averting a walkover in West Coast GRC, Mr Jeyaretnam said the mistake was a “ridiculous technicality”. The RP candidates had not stated on the form whether they were contesting as a party or as independents — an omission that was grounds for a technical disqualification. Mr Iswaran notified his competitors of the mistake around 30 minutes before nominations closed, giving them enough time to rectify it.

While he thanked Mr Iswaran, Mr Jeyaretnam slammed the ruling party, saying an “independent elections department” would have “recognised the mistake straight away”.

“Are the PAP so scared that they have to win through a technicality and get a walkover?” he asked.

Ms Noraini added: “(The administrators) could have pointed it out early ... they would have immediately seen it.”