Oh wow, it is the last day of January 2016! It is 1/12th of 2016 done!! Better get going before the year is OVER!!
"Be honest about intention behind filling NCMP seat, Shanmugam tells WP - CNA 31 Jan 2016
SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party should be honest about its intention behind filling the third Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat, Mr K Shanmugam said on Sunday (Jan 31).
Weighing in on last Friday’s debate regarding the NCMP seat vacated by the WP’s Lee Li Lian, the Home Affairs and Law Minister called on the opposition party to make clear its intent for moving the parliamentary motion to have the seat declared vacant and filled by its East Coast GRC candidate Daniel Goh.
Ms Lee lost her Punggol East seat at the 2015 General Election, but had the highest vote percentage among the losing opposition candidates with 48.23 per cent of votes, making her eligible for an NCMP seat. However, she declined to take up the position.
The motion to fill the seat was passed after a vote in Parliament on Friday.
The WP has long said it opposes the NCMP scheme in principle – saying it entrenches a one-party system – but that it believes in being a "rational and responsible" party working within the system. Two of its members, Mr Leon Perera and Mr Dennis Tan, are currently NCMPs.
At the end of Friday's two-hour debate, WP MPs abstained from the vote after the motion was amended to include calling it a "political manoeuvre" by the opposition party.
Speaking on the sidelines of a community event on Sunday, Mr Shanmugam said the starting point for democracy must be honesty.
"On the NCMP scheme, we all know what the truth is. The Workers’ Party should just come out and say: ‘Look, we would prefer a direct choice being given to the voters between the PAP and the Workers' Party, or some other opposition. But we don’t like the people being given an additional choice, which is you vote for the PAP and you still get an opposition candidate. Nevertheless, we benefit from it and therefore we want to fill the third seat,'" Mr Shanmugam said.
“They want to fill in this third seat because it benefits them."
Mr Shanmugam said that for Singapore's democracy to succeed, two factors are necessary: Honesty in Parliament and financial integrity – making reference to the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council case where the Auditor-General found lapses in its books.
"Go read what the High Court had to say about the Workers’ Party’s chairman suppressing the truth in Parliament and misleading Parliament. Go see what the Court of Appeal, just a couple of weeks ago, had to say about their Town Council Chairman, putting in half-truths on affidavits and trying to mislead," he said."
LOL! One of the chief instigators for the PAP to 'make sure that WP is on its toes all the time' is RIGHT to chastise the WP for its stand on this 'expanded NCMPs with equal voting right' scheme on the table.
So,
1. WP has to come out and say:
a. the 3 NCMP seats are provided by the CURRENT system. So, we play by the rules as it is though we had opposed it as we were concerned that the VOTERS will be lured into complacent and vote the PAP candidates in thinking that 4 NCMPs from the losing Opposition Parties will be in the Parliament. That concern is STILL there though we were PLEASE that the voters in Hougang and in Aljunied GRC voted us in as ELECTED MPs;
b. the PAP government HAD changed its policies that WERE PERCEIVED as NOT benefiting the live of Singaporean voters in GE2011 since, though it maintained that it had the change in mind ALL along. That is for the voters to judge though the FACTs are policies were changed to be MORE social safety net, MORE helps for the Pioneers, MORE to 'reign in' the RUNAWAY HDB Re-sale prices and REPLACED the Minister that advocate 'tying HDB prices to HDB Re-sales prices, and the EASING of the massive inflow of foreigners. That is definitely 1 of the biggest influence why PAP clawed back the lost popular votes though it DID NOT win back the Aljunied GRC!;
c. Mr Low was WRONG to had said that the NCMPs were 'duckweeds in the pond' or whatever inappropriate analogy he had used RIGHT AFTER PM Lee's proposed changes to the NCMPs Scheme. As all great leaders, including Mr Lee Kuan Yew, he made mistake too though many would not even put Mr Low in the same league as Mr Lee Kuan Yew!;
d. with this proposed change, which is likely to be carried given that the PAP has the necessary majority to PASS the law comfortably, we will accept it though we MUST point out to the DISCERNING Voters that the risk is the PAP can CHANGE the constitution AGAIN when the Parliament has NO elected opposition MPs but just 12 NCMPs. Will the law be CHANGED again to take OUT the 12 NCMPs in THAT Parliament?;
e. finally, Minister Shanmugam STILL cannot let go of the 'financial mismanagement of the AHPETC (now AHTC)' saga. So, what are we saying, that the Voters who put the WP candidates back as Elected MPs could not and DID NOT see that their Elected MPs are Dishonest, even though the 'for votes' had been cut to a single digit? If so, what does it say about the Voters' maturity and rationality?
So, while WP is LOSING Credibility over this issue with their INEPT explanation and floundering around, Minister Shanmugam may serve PAP better if he leave the AHTC issue alone. Let the courts sort it out. WP is NOT out of the woods yet on this issue since it is like a NEVER ENDING tragedy.
"Be honest about intention behind filling NCMP seat, Shanmugam tells WP - CNA 31 Jan 2016
SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party should be honest about its intention behind filling the third Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat, Mr K Shanmugam said on Sunday (Jan 31).
Weighing in on last Friday’s debate regarding the NCMP seat vacated by the WP’s Lee Li Lian, the Home Affairs and Law Minister called on the opposition party to make clear its intent for moving the parliamentary motion to have the seat declared vacant and filled by its East Coast GRC candidate Daniel Goh.
Ms Lee lost her Punggol East seat at the 2015 General Election, but had the highest vote percentage among the losing opposition candidates with 48.23 per cent of votes, making her eligible for an NCMP seat. However, she declined to take up the position.
The motion to fill the seat was passed after a vote in Parliament on Friday.
The WP has long said it opposes the NCMP scheme in principle – saying it entrenches a one-party system – but that it believes in being a "rational and responsible" party working within the system. Two of its members, Mr Leon Perera and Mr Dennis Tan, are currently NCMPs.
At the end of Friday's two-hour debate, WP MPs abstained from the vote after the motion was amended to include calling it a "political manoeuvre" by the opposition party.
Speaking on the sidelines of a community event on Sunday, Mr Shanmugam said the starting point for democracy must be honesty.
"On the NCMP scheme, we all know what the truth is. The Workers’ Party should just come out and say: ‘Look, we would prefer a direct choice being given to the voters between the PAP and the Workers' Party, or some other opposition. But we don’t like the people being given an additional choice, which is you vote for the PAP and you still get an opposition candidate. Nevertheless, we benefit from it and therefore we want to fill the third seat,'" Mr Shanmugam said.
“They want to fill in this third seat because it benefits them."
Mr Shanmugam said that for Singapore's democracy to succeed, two factors are necessary: Honesty in Parliament and financial integrity – making reference to the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council case where the Auditor-General found lapses in its books.
"Go read what the High Court had to say about the Workers’ Party’s chairman suppressing the truth in Parliament and misleading Parliament. Go see what the Court of Appeal, just a couple of weeks ago, had to say about their Town Council Chairman, putting in half-truths on affidavits and trying to mislead," he said."
LOL! One of the chief instigators for the PAP to 'make sure that WP is on its toes all the time' is RIGHT to chastise the WP for its stand on this 'expanded NCMPs with equal voting right' scheme on the table.
So,
1. WP has to come out and say:
a. the 3 NCMP seats are provided by the CURRENT system. So, we play by the rules as it is though we had opposed it as we were concerned that the VOTERS will be lured into complacent and vote the PAP candidates in thinking that 4 NCMPs from the losing Opposition Parties will be in the Parliament. That concern is STILL there though we were PLEASE that the voters in Hougang and in Aljunied GRC voted us in as ELECTED MPs;
b. the PAP government HAD changed its policies that WERE PERCEIVED as NOT benefiting the live of Singaporean voters in GE2011 since, though it maintained that it had the change in mind ALL along. That is for the voters to judge though the FACTs are policies were changed to be MORE social safety net, MORE helps for the Pioneers, MORE to 'reign in' the RUNAWAY HDB Re-sale prices and REPLACED the Minister that advocate 'tying HDB prices to HDB Re-sales prices, and the EASING of the massive inflow of foreigners. That is definitely 1 of the biggest influence why PAP clawed back the lost popular votes though it DID NOT win back the Aljunied GRC!;
c. Mr Low was WRONG to had said that the NCMPs were 'duckweeds in the pond' or whatever inappropriate analogy he had used RIGHT AFTER PM Lee's proposed changes to the NCMPs Scheme. As all great leaders, including Mr Lee Kuan Yew, he made mistake too though many would not even put Mr Low in the same league as Mr Lee Kuan Yew!;
d. with this proposed change, which is likely to be carried given that the PAP has the necessary majority to PASS the law comfortably, we will accept it though we MUST point out to the DISCERNING Voters that the risk is the PAP can CHANGE the constitution AGAIN when the Parliament has NO elected opposition MPs but just 12 NCMPs. Will the law be CHANGED again to take OUT the 12 NCMPs in THAT Parliament?;
e. finally, Minister Shanmugam STILL cannot let go of the 'financial mismanagement of the AHPETC (now AHTC)' saga. So, what are we saying, that the Voters who put the WP candidates back as Elected MPs could not and DID NOT see that their Elected MPs are Dishonest, even though the 'for votes' had been cut to a single digit? If so, what does it say about the Voters' maturity and rationality?
So, while WP is LOSING Credibility over this issue with their INEPT explanation and floundering around, Minister Shanmugam may serve PAP better if he leave the AHTC issue alone. Let the courts sort it out. WP is NOT out of the woods yet on this issue since it is like a NEVER ENDING tragedy.
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