SINGAPORE – Voters must decide if they want more opposition in Parliament and a weaker government, or to give Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and the PAP a strong mandate to govern Singapore, said Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
In a Facebook post on April 25, ESM Goh noted that many voters want the PAP to form the government and “understandably, also want to return more opposition candidates to Parliament”.
“This is like wanting to spend more today and save more for a rainy day at the same time. The reality is voters cannot have both,” wrote Mr Goh, 83, who was Singapore’s second prime minister.
Citing his personal experience, ESM Goh said the prime minister of a small country needs “both quality and quantity of MPs in Parliament to have political strength and stature to lead Singapore, especially at a critical juncture of geopolitical rivalry, tension, and disruptive challenges”.
He likened political contests to a boxing competition.
“There can be only one winner,” he said. “No boxer steps into the ring declaring that he only wants to check his opponent or be his sparring partner forever. He is out to knock out the other fellow, if not now, then in future contests.”
“Similarly, no political party should be satisfied with being a loyal opposition forever,” said ESM Goh, who served as prime minister from November 1990 to August 2004.
Citing remarks by PM Wong, he said that opposition candidates and their parties must therefore be judged by the same yardstick as voters would judge the PAP and its candidates – “as a potential ruling party”.
The outcome of a political battle is more consequential than that of a boxing competition, ESM Goh said.
“Fortunately, we voters are not just spectators at the ringside. We decide the outcome through our vote. How we vote will determine our lives now and beyond this electoral cycle,” he added.
“We must reflect on how we want to secure our future: a stronger opposition and a weakened government or a strong, good government and a politically stable Parliament as in the last one.”
ESM Goh, who was an MP in Marine Parade for 44 years before stepping down in 2020, also said in his post that he had met newly elected MP Goh Pei Ming on April 25.
Mr Goh Pei Ming, 43, is part of the PAP team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC that was elected unopposed on Nomination Day after a walkover. He has taken over the Marine Parade ward that ESM Goh oversaw.
On meeting ESM Goh, Mr Goh Pei Ming said he is “humbled to walk the same path he once took in Marine Parade and inspired by his words to ‘keep Singapore going’”.
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