SINGAPORE, July 18 — The emergence of several scandals and controversies in quick succession will make it more challenging for the People’s Action Party (PAP) to repair its...
SINGAPORE, July 18 — The emergence of several scandals and controversies in quick succession will make it more challenging for the People’s Action Party to repair its battered image, said political analysts and an ex-Member of Parliament yesterday.
The PAP could face difficulties in calling a General Election any time soon given that three MPs have stepped down from their roles — Tan, Cheng and former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in his bid for the Elected Presidency. In addition to the affair between Tan and Cheng, there was also Tan’s use of unparliamentary language, which was followed by Iswaran’s arrest and probe by the CPIB.
He said that once in a while, the party does encounter “one or two issues”, which the party can shrug off as an occasional human error. “The only time I can remember will be the split from the PAP from Barisan . It was a long time ago, Singaporeans won’t be able to remember that. I think PAP did purge the party and they came up much stronger after that,” he said.
He added that with the tarnished image, there could be questions on whether there are flaws in the selection system for PAP MPs that enable people to get past the rigorous checks, and also party discipline. Analysts said that the way the current case was handled is different from previous cases where MPs were involved in extra-marital affairs.
“When the affairs go public, there’s nothing the party can do other than to demand their resignation,” he said. Said Dr Felix Tan, a political analyst with Nanyang Technological University: “There is a need for them to have an honest discussion, a thorough reflection and perhaps a re-examination of how their party members conduct themselves in their personal and public lives, because being public figures, it is all intertwined.”
And with three MPs leaving Parliament and one suspended, more has to be done to ensure that residents of the affected GRCs will be taken care of.
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