Desire for diverse voices, checks and balances means PAP’s mandate unlikely to exceed 65% in future: Lawrence Wong

• PAP unlikely to secure more than 65% popular vote given voters’ desire for alternative voices
• Onus is on the Workers’ Party to offer alternative policies to be scrutinised in Parliament 
• PAP needs to appeal to younger voters, help middle-aged voters affected by economic downturn
• Leadership succession not part of GE2020 review 

SINGAPORE — It is “unlikely” that the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) will be able to exceed 65 per cent of the national vote in future elections given voters’ desire for alternative voices in Parliament, Mr Lawrence Wong said. He was on Saturday (July 18) laying out the preliminary findings of the party’s performance at the recent General Election (GE).

“Subsequent general elections will be much tougher than this one… The desire for diversity in Parliament, for checks and balances, is permanent. It is here to stay and we must be prepared for this new reality,” Mr Wong said to party activists from PAP headquarters in Bedok.

Mr Wong, who is a member of the party’s Central Executive Committee, also reminded party activists on the need to retain its voter base of 60 per cent — a threshold that PAP has never gone below since the country's independence. 

“They are the working class, middle class, the heartlands of Singapore, and the PAP must continue to keep faith with our base. Our policies must always tilt in favour of the less fortunate and vulnerable. This is in the PAP's roots and DNA,” Mr Wong, who is also National Development Minister, said. 

“We must never waver in our commitment to social justice, to preserve social mobility for all Singaporeans, and to build a more fair and just society.”

The party will be conducting a thorough review of its performance in GE2020 after it had aimed for 65 per cent of the vote but received 61.2 per cent instead, Mr Wong said. 

To win back the four per cent, or 100,000 voters, by the next GE, Mr Wong highlighted two areas that the party must work on: Its appeal with the youth and helping middle-aged Singaporeans hit hard by the economy downturn.

With young voters, he said that PAP must do better in appealing to them and in understanding their aspirations, hopes and expectations. 

The youth also look at existing issues differently from older generations, he noted.

“We need to build trust and a new social contract with younger Singaporeans. We also need to mobilise the young people so that they will do something not just for themselves, but for others needing help,” Mr Wong said. 

PAP must also work on getting young people to identify with it as a party that provides “hope and a path in the future”. 

Several among PAP’s new faces for GE2020 are young people who had faced adversity and are passionate about helping others to succeed, he added.

Mr Wong said that PAP must also reach out to voters in their 40s and 50s who face the pressures of looking after their parents as well as their young children. 

“Many of the schemes and programmes in the four national Budgets this year were aimed at this group. Unfortunately, no amount is enough in a crisis of this magnitude. We will continue to review and update our policies, and we will do whatever we can to address your anxieties and pain during this difficult period,” he said.

ALTERNATIVE VOICES TO PLAY THEIR PART 

With GE2020 showing that Singaporeans still want a PAP Government in power, but also a credible opposition to check on the party, Mr Wong said that the onus is now on the opposition to put forward “serious” policy alternatives to be scrutinised and debated as there are now more elected opposition parliamentarians.  

The Workers’ Party (WP) will have 10 Members of Parliament, up from six, after winning the newly formed Sengkang Group Representation Constituency. 

Asked by the media if the loss of a strong mandate in GE2020 would mean that PAP would look at the policy suggestions that WP raised during the hustings, such as more social safety nets, Mr Wong said that the Government is always prepared to update and improve existing policies.

“But let's also be clear: For every adjustment you make to policy... there is an upside and a downside. In an election setting, it is very easy to get swayed by the upsides without thinking through carefully what the downsides are, about what the costs are to a particular policy change,” he said.

With GE2020 now over, both parties must come to the “hard work of governance and governing Singapore”, which will involve two-way debates and looking at what are the alternative policies.

“We hope that whether it's the PAP or the WP in Parliament, we will have these vigorous debates, constructive debates that will enable better policies to be made for the betterment of all,” he said. 

Addressing WP’s messaging that it is not trying to take over the PAP Government and only want to be a stronger check on it, Mr Wong said: “I have no doubt that they want to displace the PAP and form the government one day, except that they find it inconvenient to acknowledge this now.”

Clarifying that there is nothing wrong in doing so, since that is what political parties in parliamentary democracies do, Mr Wong urged activists to be “clear-eyed” about the way forward for PAP. 

“The PAP must argue for what we believe in, govern Singapore well, and keep on winning the trust and support for a new generation of voters. Remember: The right to leadership cannot be inherited. Just because the PAP has governed Singapore since independence doesn't mean that it always will, that it always will govern Singapore throughout,” he said. 

“We must continue to strive to win the trust of our people and we must prove that we can govern well, then we can develop a stable political balance and the PAP can continue winning future elections.”

He said that the electorate does not take PAP seriously when it says that there may be a “freak election result”, but this is a real possibility especially if the starting point is that PAP will get about 60 per cent of the votes. 

“The dynamics of every election is volatile and completely unpredictable, and sentiments can shift very quickly in nine days and across the entire island,” he said. 

POLITICAL SUCCESSION PLANS TO BE LOOKED AT LATER

In response to a question from the media on whether there was a need to review the choice of Mr Heng Swee Keat as Singapore’s future prime minister, Mr Wong said that the question of succession will not be a part of the review of GE2020 since it is a separate matter from the elections.

“We are really looking at getting Singapore out of this huge crisis — healthcare, economic issues that we just talked about. Our focus right now is to have the team all working as one, focusing on overcoming the crisis and emerging stronger from the crisis,” he said.  

“It doesn't matter whether it's 4G (fourth generation), 3G, or whatever G. I think whoever is in government, all of us are focused on this particular issue. There will be time later on to talk about succession.”

When asked why he was helming the session instead of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong or Mr Heng, Mr Wong said that he was just acting as a spokesperson for the party. 

Also present during the session, though in a separate room, was second assistant secretary-general Chan Chun Sing and executive director of the PAP headquarters Alex Yam.

Mr Wong said that a different PAP representative could be presenting the full GE2020 review when it is ready.

“I'm doing this today, but it could have been any one of us. I don't think you need to read too much into who is the spokesperson,” he said.