By Derek da Cunha
The report that the defeated People’s Action Party candidate in GE2011, Mr Ong Ye Kung, might be fielded again by the PAP at the next general election but possibly this time in Sembawang GRC, is an interesting development. (http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/paps-ong-ye-kung-poised-election-comeback-new-grc-201407)
Mr Ong is considered by the PAP leadership to be of ministerial calibre. As such, the PAP leadership might be keen to have Mr Ong enter Parliament to facilitate the process of generational change within the PAP.
That Mr Ong should potentially seek to get elected in Sembawang GRC, an electoral division that has been contested by the Singapore Democratic Party in the 2006 and 2011 elections, might indicate that the PAP is choosing the path of least resistance for entry to Parliament of what it considers to be one of its A-list candidates. Put bluntly, the SDP is viewed as posing zero threat to the PAP. On the other hand, the Workers’ Party is considered the main and viable threat to the PAP. Mr Ong should know a bit about that as he and his PAP teammates were defeated by a WP team in Aljunied GRC back in 2011. That there are indications that Mr Ong will not return as a candidate in Aljunied but instead go elsewhere speaks to the allure of the WP brand.
It would be interesting to see what other candidates the PAP will, or will not, field in parts of the eastern half of the island where the WP has established a presence and is poised to expand that presence at the next GE. If the PAP decides to field a “soft” slate of candidates in WP-contested constituencies then that would be quite telling and also highly flattering to the WP.
Of course, who the PAP fields in constituencies in the eastern half of Singapore might also be contingent on who the WP fields as candidates there. But to the PAP, the fly in the ointment here is that, as part of election tactics, the WP would likely keep its cards close to itself until Nomination Day. Also, it is conceivable that the WP might pull off a couple of surprises, such as contesting in one or two electoral divisions outside the eastern half of Singapore. When some observers consider the WP too staid and predictable, it is then that it surprises. For instance, in GE2006 the WP caused quite a stir by fielding a team in the prime minister’s electoral division of Ang Mo Kio GRC. WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang rationalised the decision to field a team in Ang Mo Kio GRC by saying that a new prime minister, i.e., Mr Lee Hsien Loong, must be made to face a contest.
Mr Low is fully acquainted with the norms and practices of the Westminster political system. That, in and of itself, would be a surprise to many people.
Dr Derek da Cunha is author of the books: Breakthrough: Roadmap for Singapore’s Political Future (Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies, 2012), 288pp; Singapore Places its Bets: Casinos, Foreign Talent and Remaking a City-state (Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2010), 192pp; and, The Price of Victory: The 1997 Singapore General Election and Beyond (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1997), 150pp.
*Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/notes/derek-da-cunha/the-pap-and-the-path-of-least-resistance/10153137051313797