It’s going to be a boring by-election

by Bertha Henson

LOOKS like the People’s Action Party (PAP) is itching to start formal campaigning after nomination closes at noon tomorrow. Lawyer Murali Pillai, flanked by big guns Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Community, Culture and Youth Minister Grace Fu, held a press conference today to add to his infrastructural programmes announced on Sunday (April 24).

He called it his manifesto, which was focused on the needs of the elderly and the poor in his constituency. They are to complement 22 programmes already being carried out by community groups. No doubt, this was to put rival Singapore Democratic Party’s own programmes in the shade.

Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) four programmes include a legal clinic and a mentoring programme. Today, the PAP very handily handed out a fact-sheet of current programmes which boasted its own legal clinic by the party branch. There is also a Loving Hearts Multi-Service Centre which provides free breakfast, sports tuition and mentoring programmes for children.

The alphabet soup of grassroots groups, which range from the giant Southwest Community Development Council and the ward’s Citizens’ Consultative Committee to merchants’ association and community centre groups, also have their own programmes. They range from free hair cuts for the elderly and rice distribution to education awards for children in low income families which is named after the late MP Ong Chit Chung.

The SDP is going to be hard put to come up with a novel social programme that has not been implemented by the massive grassroots machinery already in place. Unless, of course, it can demonstrate that the programmes are not well executed or irrelevant.

There was some fuss about the PAP’s $1.9m Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP) with the SDP saying that it would have consulted residents first instead of rolling out the plans so swiftly. Today, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who heads the neighbouring Jurong GRC, affected puzzlement.

“The SDP is not new to Bukit Batok. They’ve been walking the ground to listen to residents,” said Mr Tharman.

“But if they need more time, just say so. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. But there’s no need for all this bluster. There’s no need to begrudge the PAP for having already done its work in consulting residents and making plans.”

Although it had initially appeared to be unfazed by Mr Murali’s carrot and stick approach that the plan may not come true if he was not elected, it has since taken a more antagonistic tack.

Said SDP Central Executive Committee member Paul Thambyah, in a press release a few hours after Mr Murali’s press conference: “To say that major improvements will come only if the PAP candidate is elected is unethical and could even be a contravention of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Section 59) which prohibits parties or persons from bringing undue influence on voters.’’

So it looks like it will be a terribly local election, tailored very specifically for the 25,727 voters in Bukit Batok. In other words, for those living outside Bukit Batok, it will be boring.

SDP isn’t making much of a fuss about how the seat fell vacant because of a philandering PAP MP. So unlike the last two by-elections, the issue of moral standards of parliamentary representatives and political parties isn’t going to surface much.

Nor is Dr Chee Soon Juan levelling in on human rights issues, freedom of speech and such. He has not even given his party’s position on changes to the elected presidency system.

How will things change after noon tomorrow? A straight fight between the two protagonists isn’t guaranteed as five people have taken political donation certificates. All he or she would need are for 10 persons to nominate him or her (one proposer, one seconder and 8 assentors), and a $13,500 deposit for someone to throw his or her name in the ring.

But so far, it looks like it will be a very pragmatic, very boring by-election. Maybe, that’s how a by-election should be.

Need to catch up on all that’s leading up to the Bukit Batok by-election? Here are some related articles:

• Bukit Batok BE: An electoral race that will shed light on race
• Bukit Batok residents reveal their thoughts on Murali, Chee, and David Ong
• Bukit Batok: The next go-to destination
• By the way, this Bukit Batok by-election…
• Not quite a barbed Bukit Batok BE yet 

 

Featured image by Najeer Yusof. 

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The post It’s going to be a boring by-election appeared first on The Middle Ground.

- Bertha Henson