PM Lee, WP chief lock horns over constructive politics

SINGAPORE — An extraordinary exchange took place between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang in Parliament yesterday, as Mr Lee took aim at the WP’s performance in Parliament and pressed the Opposition leader to take a clear stand on government policies and issues.

Mr Lee, who is also the People’s Action Party Secretary-General, and Mr Low locked horns in a fiery 14-minute exchange that was triggered by Mr Lee’s criticism of what Mr Low had said in Parliament on Monday, the first day of the debate on the President’s Address.

In his speech, Mr Lee said it was striking that the Opposition leader had “nothing to say about the substance of the Government’s programme. No critiques, no suggestions, no alternatives — nothing”. Mr Lee also singled out Mr Low’s comment that “in whatever way ‘politics’ is described and coloured, it is still politics”. This was a “breathtakingly cynical view of politics”, said Mr Lee.

On Monday, Senior Minister of State (Law and Education) Indranee Rajah charged that the WP had flip-flopped on its position on foreign manpower. Mr Low denied it and suggested that she file a motion to debate this.

Mr Lee said: “Mr Low’s denial is simply false. (The) WP did flip-flop. The record is there in the Hansard, for everyone to see. But his suggestion to file a motion is not a bad idea.”

After Mr Lee delivered his speech, Mr Low immediately rose to explain that he had made “constructive politics” — raised by President Tony Tan earlier this month when reopening the 12th Parliament — the focus of his speech as it was an important issue.

He maintained that the WP did not flip-flop on the foreign worker issue. It had advocated zero growth in foreign worker numbers during the Population White Paper debate, making a calculation that further growth was untenable and that existing foreign workers could be reallocated among various sectors. It did not object subsequently when the Government decided to slow the growth in numbers instead of turning the tap completely off, as it had said its piece. “I also noted that when the PAP has to make a policy U-turn, they call it policy shift,” he added.

Mr Lee rebutted that the PAP acknowledges policy shifts instead of pretending it has not changed its position on issues. The WP has to set a clear direction and “what you stand for cannot be what the PAP is doing, and a little bit better”.

Suggesting that the WP’s approach has “the mark of a sub-standard Opposition”, Mr Lee added: “If (you) have changed position and your previous position was wrong, say so. If you hold your position, have the guts to reaffirm it and take the consequences.”

In his speech, Mr Lee stressed that Singapore must get its politics right to realise policies for a better future, and that constructive politics must be about developing effective policies, putting good leaders forward, robust and open debates, integrity and rallying people around a common cause. The Republic should not practise money politics, power politics, racial politics and the politics of envy, he said, warning that wrong politics would doom the country.

Citing the experiences of countries such as the United States and Thailand after they did not get their politics to work, Mr Lee added that if Singapore ends up with factional politics, with each group pushing for single issues such as race, religion or even gay rights, “then our politics would have failed Singapore”.

The PAP tries to practise constructive politics by offering serious policies and debating trade-offs, even for sensitive topics like population issues. It also upholds high integrity and engages Singaporeans on a shared future, he said. Opposition parties must uphold the same standards, he added.