PM Lee calls on PAP activists to gear up for next GE, with 'only two years left' to prepare

SINGAPORE — Rallying party activists to start gearing up for the next General Election (GE), People's Action Party (PAP) secretary-general Lee Hsien Loong indicated on Sunday (Nov 11) that the polls could be held within the next two years. 

Speaking at the PAP's biennial conference, Mr Lee, who is the Prime Minister, said in his Mandarin speech that the party has "only two years left" to prepare for the GE, which must be held by April 2021.

The term of the Republic's current Parliament will expire by Jan 15, 2021, but it may be dissolved at any time before the expiry of its five-year term by President Halimah Yacob on the advice of the Prime Minister. The GE must be held within three months of the dissolution of the Parliament.

Addressing 3,200 party members gathered at the Singapore Expo, Mr Lee said the next GE will be a “new test” for the PAP which is “completely different” from the last election in 2015.

“PAP did exceptionally well in the last GE, but we can neither rest on our laurels nor take people’s support for granted,” said Mr Lee, who also noted in his English speech that this could be the last party conference before the country heads to the polls. “The world today is more complex, people’s expectations have risen, and we face different challenges,” he added.

In the last GE held in 2015, the PAP contested all 89 seats and won 83 of them, with the remaining seats going to the Workers' Party. The PAP garnered 69.9 per cent of the popular vote — its best showing since 2001 and an increase of almost 10 percentage points from the previous GE in 2011.

By putting in the work now, by the next GE, Singaporeans "will recognise our efforts, feel that their lives have changed for the better, and they will continue to make a considered choice to give PAP a strong mandate to lead the country”, Mr Lee told the party activists.

Their efforts today will also make sure that that the government will be able to implement longer term plans for Singapore and “scale new heights together”, he said. “I believe that all of you will give it your all for the party, and that your hard work will strengthen our relationship and mutual trust with the people,” he said.

Mr Lee reiterated the PAP's motto of governing Singapore well and to improve the lives of Singaporeans. Stressing that the fourth generation leadership “cannot let the people down” in undertaking these duties, he said: "(The motto) is the belief that the first generation of PAP leaders held on to staunchly, as did the second and third generations of PAP leaders, which is why people have developed confidence in PAP over the years."

He added: “They trust that the PAP MPs (members of parliament) are the best representatives (in Parliament), and they support the Government led by the PAP.”

Mr Lee urged PAP activists to better understand people’s needs and concerns in order for the party to do its work well. This is “so that when people run into problems, they can feel our concern for them, and trust that PAP will be there to help them through difficult times”, he said in his Mandarin speech.

Activists need to strengthen their communications with the people and “win their trust”, said Mr Lee. “We need to help people understand that we, as the ruling party, will always put the interests of the country and the people first, in all that we do."

This will be important when the leaders need to make difficult choices “for the sake of Singapore’s long term developments”, he reiterated.

“If people have confidence in us, they will trust that our choices were made with their well-being in mind, and they would be willing to stay with us as we forge ahead as a nation," Mr Lee said.

OPPOSITION PARTIES 'ARE READY FOR GE'
When contacted, several opposition parties said their GE preparations were underway, and they would be ready should snap elections be called next year.

People’s Power Party chief Goh Meng Seng thinks the polls could be held as early as June next year. In terms of preparations, he said that his party has been getting itself ready to run a town council should it win any seats. 

“Our (estate) management software is ready and we won't be held ransom by (any) PAP attempt to control the management software,” said the 48-year-old, referring to the saga between the PAP and the Workers' Party (WP) which arose after the WP won Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the 2011 GE.

Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) chairman Desmond Lim said his party has remained active in the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC since the 2015 GE , which saw the SDA garnering about 27 per cent of the vote in the constituency, an eight-percentage-point drop from its 2011 GE performance. “We've conducted our regular house to house visits, attending to resident’s needs and requests. We are ready for any snap elections,” said Mr Lim, 51.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) secretary-general Benjamin Pwee, 50, said it was premature to speculate when the next GE will be, but he said: “The DPP stands ever ready to field good credible candidates for the coming GE.”

Regardless of when the next GE is called, Singapore Democratic Party vice-chairman John Tan said his party had already planned to ramp up preparations next year. “It doesn’t matter whether the elections are called early or late. We will do our work and focus on our message,” he said, adding that his party’s walkabouts, house visits and online outreach have gone on “unabated” since the last GE in 2015. 

Mrs Lina Chiam, chairman of the Singapore People’s Party (SPP), revealed in her reply that her party is not just focusing efforts on Potong Pasir. 

“The SPP will continue our ground engagements and will continue meeting as many residents as possible from various constituencies to understand their concerns and dreams for Singapore,” she said, noting that “everyday is precious” as it would be a day closer to the next GE, “regardless of whether it is in 2019, 2020 or 2021”.

She however urged the PAP leaders to consider changing the way elections are administered here so that Singapore can be a “true democracy”. 

“Instead of deciding to call a snap elections, according to the PAP’s convenience, we should move towards setting a fixed every five years to call the General Election,” she said.

TODAY has also reached out to the other opposition parties, including the WP, for comments.