PAP press conference

Tax rates not linked to election results, says PM

Opposition's lavish promises to spend are what will lead to taxes going up, he says

(From far left) Madam Halimah Yacob, Mr Lim Swee Say, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Dr Ng Eng Hen, Mr S. Iswaran and Mr Desmond Lee at a press conference at the PAP's headquarters yesterday. Senior PAP leaders, such as Dr Ng, put potential candidat
(From left) Madam Halimah Yacob, Mr Lim Swee Say, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Dr Ng Eng Hen, Mr S. Iswaran and Mr Desmond Lee at a press conference at the PAP's headquarters yesterday. Senior PAP leaders, such as Dr Ng, put potential candidates through an onerous selection process before PM Lee finally decides if they have what it takes to represent Singapore. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

The Government does not adjust tax rates according to the percentage of votes the PAP wins at elections but only when it needs to and after careful consideration, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday, rebutting the Workers' Party (WP) claim linking election results to GST hikes.

WP chief Low Thia Khiang warned at a rally on Friday that if voters gave the People's Action Party (PAP) too free a rein, the Government may hike the goods and services tax (GST) rate after elections, like it did after the 2006 polls.

Asked specifically if the GST would be raised from the current level of 7 per cent, Mr Lee said: "We don't adjust or raise taxes just because we got a percentage at the elections. We would be mad to do that. Raising, adjusting taxes are a very big decision. You consider it carefully, you discuss it thoroughly and you do it only when you absolutely have to do it.

"As far as the Government is concerned, we do things which we need to do and when we do that, we will explain it and we will justify it. And if it cannot be justified, and our people don't believe us, then we will pay the price at the next election."

He also singled out plans in opposition manifestos to give money to groups, including the young and the old, and to introduce a minimum wage. "Nowhere do they say you need to tax. And when they do, they say, ah, you will tax those rich guys, very few, don't worry. Won't break their bank... When you see a manifesto like that, that's when you must ask, where is the money going to come from?" he said.

"Profligate spending and irresponsible, unsustainable plans. That is what will hurt and require you to raise taxes, including the GST," he added.

At a separate media interview yesterday, Foreign and Law Minister K. Shanmugam called Mr Low's remarks "scaremongering".

Mr Shanmugam said that Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also Finance Minister, "has made it very clear that we will not raise the GST".

"It's really a scaremongering tactic, ignoring what the Finance Minister has said," he added.

At the press conference at PAP headquarters yesterday, PM Lee lambasted the WP's effort to paint the PAP Government as "dying to do bad things to people", in a reference to Mr Low's warning that popular policies, including property cooling measures, could be reversed. "Do we look like that? Here we are trying to do the best and needing support... I would turn the argument and say, be careful. If you give more votes to the WP, they will become even more arrogant and oppressive to the rest of the parties as they've already shown."

The PAP Government, he said, does not play games with voters.

"You vote for the party and the team whom you trust and whom you approve of. If you approve of us, vote for us. If you don't approve of us, vote for somebody else.

"But if you approve of us but don't want to vote for us, then I think something will go wrong."

Mr Lee noted that some parties harboured ambitions to form the government when they were not ready to do so, but sought to downplay this so as not to frighten voters.

In recent rally speeches, WP chairman Sylvia Lim said that should the party take over the government, it would abolish group representation constituencies, while Mr Png Eng Huat argued that even if the WP were to take over as government, the civil service would keep things running.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on September 06, 2015, with the headline Tax rates not linked to election results, says PM. Subscribe