Singapore GE2020: No horse-trading, negotiation with RP over Nee Soon, says PSP

There was no "horse-trading agreement or negotiation" between the Reform Party (RP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP), said PSP assistant secretary-general Leong Mun Wai yesterday.

He was responding to Law and Home Affairs minister K. Shanmugam, who had called PSP's campaign for Nee Soon GRC "half-hearted" in a PAP virtual press conference on Wednesday.

Mr Shanmugam, who will helm the PAP's Nee Soon slate in the July 10 polls, also said in a Facebook post yesterday morning that it was "dishonest" of PSP candidate Bradley Bowyer to deny that his party had offered to trade Nee Soon to RP for another constituency.

Addressing PSP chief Tan Cheng Bock, the minister wrote: "I think Nee Soon voters and the voters in Singapore need to know: Why (would) this candidate, whom you hand-picked, say something which was so obviously untrue?

"If no answer is given, it will speak volumes. It will also tell Singaporeans whether Dr Tan values honesty in his candidates."

Mr Leong responded in a Facebook post: "PSP is always committed to Nee Soon... There is no horse-trading agreement or negotiation between RP and ourselves with regards to Nee Soon or any other constituencies.

"As there are many opposition parties vying for the limited number of seats, various ideas were tossed up in the course of discussion, but that does not mean they were accepted, even as a basis for negotiation.

"Our Nee Soon team has prepared for months for this campaign, and the fact that they are here shows their commitment. We should concentrate on the issues that can improve the lives of the resi-dents of Nee Soon."

Last week, RP chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam said PSP would withdraw from "various grounds" in return for RP not standing in West Coast GRC, and that PSP had also offered to cede Nee Soon GRC, but RP decided not to contest it anyway.

RP subsequently accused PSP of reneging on an agreement not to contest Yio Chu Kang SMC.

During a walkabout in the single seat constituency, Dr Tan insisted that contesting Nee Soon GRC was always "non-negotiable" for PSP, as was Yio Chu Kang SMC.

"To me, it is so trivial," he said of Mr Shanmugam's remarks. "It doesn't matter to me."

Mr Shanmugam responded on Facebook by posting screenshots of Mr Jeyaretnam's Twitter feed dated last Saturday, in which the RP leader said PSP had offered his party Nee Soon GRC and other constituencies over WhatsApp.

"Mr Leong is not being truthful," said the minister. "That is not 'negotiating'? What were they then doing?"

When asked, Mr Jeyaretnam neither confirmed nor denied the Nee Soon negotiations. In a Facebook post yesterday, he said: "It is extremely pleasing to me that (Mr) Shanmugam has publicly upheld me and my Facebook posts as truths to be relied on, but I am also confident in court that this would be thrown out as 'hearsay'."

PSP treasurer and Nee Soon GRC candidate Sri Nallakaruppan said: "This is a waste of time. We want to focus on real issues, like jobs, and serve residents."

Speaking during a walkabout at Block 292 Yishun Street 22 yesterday, he added that the PSP team had met many unemployed people, some of whom had been out of work for years, while others had lost jobs during the Covid-19 crisis.

"These people have fallen through the cracks and need help," he said.

He also argued against the planned goods and services tax (GST) hike, and called for GST exemption for basic necessities.

The PSP slate for Nee Soon GRC is led by customer service manager Damien Tay, 51. The rest of the team are Mr Nallakaruppan, 56, Mr Bowyer, 53, adult educator Kala Manickam, 52, and IT project manager Taufik Supan, 40.

They will face a PAP team comprising Mr Shanmugam, 61, fellow incumbents Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, 52, and Louis Ng, 41, as well as two new faces - charity founder Carrie Tan, 38, and banker Derrick Goh, 51.

Despite the online exchange, Mr Bowyer, Mr Nallakaruppan and Mr Taufik were in a jovial mood when they bumped into Mr Ng during yesterday's walkabout, and both sides exchanged friendly greetings.

Nee Soon resident J. Kamaliah, 54, who runs a clothing shop, posed for a photo with Mr Bowyer.

"The PAP's percentage has always been very good here," she said.

"But let them work hard for it."