GE2025: PM wouldn’t have risked moving DPM Gan to Punggol if he was indispensable, says Pritam

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SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lawrence Wong would not have risked fielding Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong against the opposition WP in Punggol if the veteran minister was indispensable, said WP chief Pritam Singh on May 1.

And if DPM Gan is not re-elected come May 3, Singaporeans need not feel guilty, as it was not voters but the ruling PAP that put him at risk, Mr Singh added at the opposition party’s rally on the final day of the election campaign.

The Leader of the Opposition devoted a large part of his speech, which lasted nearly half an hour, to rebutting PM Wong’s comments during campaigning.

The Prime Minister had earlier described WP’s comments on the potential loss of DPM Gan as “cavalier and irresponsible”.

In a surprise move on Nomination Day on April 23,

DPM Gan was confirmed as the anchor minister for the PAP’s Punggol GRC team,

which is in a straight contest with WP in the four-member constituency.

Listing the point as among five “reality checks” on arguments made by the PAP against the WP, Mr Singh said on May 1 that it was PM Wong who moved DPM Gan out of Chua Chu Kang GRC, where he had served for 14 years.

The Prime Minister had explained that this was for “better distribution” of the ruling party’s senior leadership for the campaign.

Mr Singh said at the rally, held at Anderson Serangoon Junior College in Upper Serangoon, that PM Wong’s argument did not make sense, given Singapore’s small size.

“We are not America, China or even Malaysia.”

Mr Singh said to move a really important government minister at election time is a risk, and it can be deemed “reckless” when there are other relatively safer constituencies where he could be placed.

“If DPM Gan is indispensable, then – if I may use PM Wong’s own phrase – moving him was cavalier and irresponsible,” he added.

Shifting DPM Gan to Punggol was also a tactical move to stop WP from winning the constituency, said Mr Singh.

If the Deputy Prime Minister loses the contest in Punggol, he can, like previous Cabinet ministers, be appointed to chair a government-linked company, or remain Singapore’s official negotiator or special envoy, if he has a good relationship with US trade negotiators, added Mr Singh.

PM Wong had said DPM Gan plays a crucial role in US tariff talks.

Mr Singh said the same would apply to Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli, who leads the PAP’s Tampines GRC team, as well as Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong, the anchor minister for the PAP’s East Coast GRC slate.

WP is contesting both constituencies.

Mr Masagos has held senior roles in telecommunications firm Singtel, and could chair a government-linked company or become an ambassador if he is not re-elected.

Mr Tong, a senior counsel, could lead the Singapore Institute of Legal Education or join the Football Association of Singapore to “fulfil his dream of bringing Singapore to the Fifa World Cup in 2034”, said Mr Singh.

He added that PM Wong had allowed four ministers to retire, three of whom were “super heavyweights”.

The four are Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, 70; Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, 64; Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, 66; and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Maliki Osman, 59.

“If he is not confident that he has enough ministers, would he have allowed four ministers to retire?” Mr Singh asked.

If there was a risk to Singapore’s future, they would have been asked to stay, he added, noting that the four ministers who are retiring are years younger than SM Lee Hsien Loong, 73.

The simple truth is that “no one is indispensable”, added Mr Singh.

Speaking at the rally, WP chairwoman Sylvia Lim said the PAP’s rhetoric at this election is similar to that of the ruling party in 2011, when the PAP team in Aljunied GRC was described as being too important to lose.

“But since the PAP lost Aljunied, has Singapore been weakened? Life goes on. And guess what? One of our Workers’ Party unknowns is now the Leader of the Opposition,” she said.

Mr Singh also refuted the PAP’s assertion that voting in more opposition members would weaken the PAP government.

Assuming the PAP wins 71 – or 73 per cent – of 97 parliamentary seats at the polls, Mr Singh asked: “Is PM Wong saying that he cannot find enough good people to fill his Cabinet?”

WP is fielding 26 candidates across eight constituencies.

Mr Singh argued that more WP MPs will not weaken the Government, as they “do not oppose for the sake of opposing”.

“If the laws are in Singapore’s interest, we will vote with the Government, as we have done so. Everyone here knows Workers’ Party MPs are rational and responsible.”

Refuting PM Wong’s point that he is seeking a clear mandate at the polls so that his team can speak confidently for Singapore on the world stage, Mr Singh asked: “Does the PAP really believe that foreign leaders of democratic countries who meet Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will think, ‘Oh, the Singapore Prime Minister only won 73 per cent of the seats. So lousy. He must come from a lousy school?’”

Added Mr Singh: “Foreign leaders of democracies would give their right arm and right leg for 73 per cent of the seats in Parliament. They would say 73 per cent is a fantastic result.”

The WP chief also countered a point raised by various PAP candidates that the opposition is all talk.

He said it is the nature of a parliamentary democracy that MPs do not just have to attend Parliament faithfully, but speak up for Singaporeans.

“It is not possible to say that speeches are unimportant,” added Mr Singh, as he urged PAP candidates to “have a care” for Singapore’s political system, which is designed to represent all Singaporeans.

“The Workers’ Party has to step up for them.”

Hitting back at PM Wong’s remark that voters should not give the opposition a “free pass”, Mr Singh said the PAP’s group representation constituency system has protected dozens of new PAP MPs, including at this election, where a few “never walked the ground until recently”.

“Voters do not know them, but voters are expected to vote for them just because they are in a GRC with an anchor minister. That is what I call a free pass.”

Highlighting that WP candidates have established themselves to be brave and have guts and resilience, Mr Singh made a final pitch to voters: “Remember this phrase: The Workers’ Party is a force for good.”