GE2025: More opposition voices in Parliament will not weaken the Government, says PSP
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Mr Tan Cheng Bock (centre), Mr Leong Mun Wai (left) and Ms Hazel Poa (background) at Taman Jurong Market on May 1.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
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SINGAPORE - The leaders of the opposition PSP spent the last day of campaigning assuring voters that having more opposition voices in Parliament would not weaken the Government, but instead result in more robust debates and better policies for Singaporeans.
Speaking on May 1 on the sidelines of a walkabout at Boon Lay Place Market – part of the West Coast-Jurong West GRC the party is contesting – PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock said the PAP’s claims of a weakened Government were “very old”.
More opposition voices in Parliament would mean more diverse views and ideas in the Chamber, said Dr Tan. He added that the PSP’s Non-Constituency MPs – party chief Leong Mun Wai and first vice-chair Hazel Poa – have demonstrated their ability to robustly debate policies, and that the PSP is a credible opposition party.
Singapore goes to the polls on May 3.
Saying that opposition parties, if voted in, represent the views of the people, Dr Tan added: “You don’t brush it off (and say) that ‘there are too many (opposition members) and we’ll be weakened’.”
Mr Leong said the PAP has lost ministers and GRCs before, but it did not seem to have weakened the Government.
“Would a weak Government be able to pass through or bulldoze the GST (increase) in 2022? It must be a strong Government, with all the power to amend Constitutions… So the argument that the minister had about losing some minister or GRC will weaken the Government is not quite accurate,” Mr Leong said.
Responding to Health Minister Ong Ye Kung’s comments that a strong opposition is unnecessary and could lead to a gridlock in Parliament, Mr Leong said Mr Ong’s comments are “out of this world”. “I think most Singaporeans will agree that there’s a need for more opposition,” Mr Leong said.
Asked about Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s remarks on how opposition parties have been using personal attacks to bring down the PAP, Mr Leong said PSP does not adopt such a strategy.
PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock (centre), with party candidates (from left) Leong Mun Wai, Sumarleki Amjah, Sani Ismail and Hazel Poa, at a doorstop interview at Boon Lay Place Market on May 1.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
On April 30, National Development Minister Desmond Lee hit back at statements by Mr Leong that he had “been silent on national housing issues throughout the campaign”.
Mr Leong said his remarks were “targeted at the fact that he has not responded concretely to some of the policy debates we are trying to have” and were “not a personal attack”.
Ms Poa said none of the PSP’s opponents in the constituencies the party is contesting has taken up its challenge to debate policies.
“We do wish that there are more debates on policy matters in this election. But unfortunately, it is not just up to us,” she said.
Separately, PSP candidate for Chua Chu Kang GRC Lawrence Pek told The Straits Times on May 1 that he never called for a minimum wage to be implemented right away, but asked instead for a feasibility study to be carried out by the Government.
Responding to Manpower Minister Tan See Leng’s remarks that introducing a universal minimum wage in this uncertain economic climate would scare businesses away, Mr Pek said what he had proposed was that such a study be done ahead of time, so that a wage floor could be enacted when the economy booms again.
“And we know there will be an economic boom because we know, all economists know, that all economies are cyclical,” said Mr Pek, who was former secretary-general of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation. He also responded to PM Wong’s comments on an April 30 podcast that some opposition parties were trying to outbid one another in their proposals, including on a minimum wage.
The WP has called for a national minimum wage of $1,600, while the PSP has called for a $2,250 minimum wage for local workers.
Mr Pek said the quantum of the minimum wage is “less important than the actual feasibility study” of such a policy by a parliamentary committee, which could work out the technical details.
“Right now, it is important that these important policy ideas be debated more rigorously in Parliament, which is why I’m running for Parliament this general election,” he said.
PSP candidate for Chua Chu Kang GRC Lawrence Pek, seen here speaking at the PSP rally on April 26, said the quantum of the minimum wage is “less important than the actual feasibility study” of such a policy by a parliamentary committee.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
Dr Tan Cheng Bock said the absence of much confrontation between the PSP and the PAP at the hustings was testament to the opposition party wanting a fair fight.
He added: “I think they find that the ground that we have built for the party is strong enough. (When) they take us, we can reply. Our rebuttals are there. We don’t have to resort to shouting.”
Mr Leong said the PSP was confident that Singaporeans see it as a credible opposition party, and that PSP MPs in Parliament would “be able to contribute a lot to their lives and livelihood”.
Dr Tan, Mr Leong and Ms Poa are part of the five-member team contesting the West Coast-Jurong West GRC in the upcoming polls. Joining them are new faces Sani Ismail and Sumarleki Amjah.
The former West Coast GRC, under the previous boundaries, saw the closest contest in the last election, with the PAP winning with 51.68 per cent of the vote against the PSP.
This result sent Mr Leong and Ms Hazel Poa into Parliament as NCMPs as they were the top losers of the polls.
Both teams have returned with renewed slates, setting up a rematch.
The PAP team is anchored by Mr Lee. Mr Ang Wei Neng returns, and the pair is joined by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Finance and Education Shawn Huang, and new faces Hamid Razak and Cassandra Lee.
