Singapore's politicians wrap up election campaign
Singapore's politicians wrap up election campaign
Agencies, Singapore
Singapore politicians Friday wrapped up a heated election campaign with a last ditch effort to move away from intense personal attacks and defamation suits to bread and butter issues amid a severe recession.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, the biggest guns in the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), shifted their focus to the government's efforts to minimize layoffs as the worst economic slump in 37 years takes its toll.
Singapore's ruling party has already won Saturday's election but the question is whether recession-hit voters will hand the government a clean sweep or give the marginalised opposition more of a voice.
Voting is compulsory but only one-third of the electorate will have any real say at the ballot box after opposition parties assured the People's Action Party (PAP) of a ninth straight term by fielding just 29 candidates for 84 seats.
"I'm not for any party but I think Singapore needs some meaningful opposition to check the power of the PAP," said one man who asked not to be named.
The PAP has monopolized parliament since independence in 1965 but a humdrum campaign for a walkover election has been spiced up by the threat of lawsuits and the slim chance the opposition could grab more than the record four seats they won in 1991.
Public opinion polls and election exit polls are banned, leaving the average voter guessing.
The PAP has rolled out teams fronted by heavyweight ministers in key five-seat wards to fend off opposition parties which often struggle to find candidates and funding.
"I'm out to increase the mandate in terms of the percentage of votes for myself and for this government," Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told a news conference on Friday. "I want to get some endorsement for what I've done."
The ruling party won 81 of 83 seats in the 1997 election with 65 percent of the vote. Under electoral boundaries redrawn before this election, the city state is divided into nine single seats and 14 "winner takes all" five- and six-seat wards.
Most analysts say the opposition will be lucky to keep their two seats from the last parliament but victory in just one of the five-seat wards would be a major psychological blow to the PAP.
Candidates from all sides have focused on job losses and the state of the trade-driven economy as Singapore suffers its worst recession since 1964.
Slumping electronics exports and downturns in key markets were exacerbated by the attacks on the United States, pushing the city state's economy to an expected 3 percent contraction this year after nearly 10 percent growth last year.
Unemployment is seen hitting 4.5 percent by the end of the year -- a shock to a nation that thought it saw the worst at 4.3 percent during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.
"A recession election is difficult to predict," the Business Times newspaper said in a front-page editorial on Friday.
Goh warned of 25,000 retrenchments this year and another 15,000 in 2002, but refused to accept opposition arguments that hiring foreign workers deprived Singaporeans of jobs. They created jobs, he said.
The government also rejected proposals for a minimum wage and salaries for retrenched workers for 18 months after losing their jobs, and denied an 11.3 billion Singapore dollar (US$6.3 billion) off-budget package released just before the elections was a form of vote-buying.
One wildcard is the 10 percent of voters casting a ballot for the first time. Analysts say those aged 21-25 may not have the same reverence for the long-ruling PAP as older voters.
The main issues went by the wayside when Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan fell foul of Goh and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew by suggesting S$17 billion (US$9.3 billion) in taxpayer money was lent to former Indonesian president Soeharto.
The PAP leaders said the loan never went ahead and have threatened defamation lawsuits -- a debilitating weapon they have used against political opponents in the past.
Chee has complied with demands for formal apologies and will have to pay damages and costs if he has any hope of avoiding a trip to court and a judgment that could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Critics say legal action puts a chill on political debate but PAP leaders counter they sue only to defend their integrity.
Away from the contested wards, there are few signs of the impending election. The majority of people carried on with their daily lives as the ruling party prepared to return to power.
"This is part of our life already -- the PAP," said one young taxi driver.
Facts and figures on Singapore
Geography: Singapore is a small, tropical island city-state of about 683 square kilometers on the South China Sea A 2-kilometer bridge and a 1-kilometer causeway link the island to Malaysia in the north.
Population: About 4 million people live in Singapore, 78 percent of them ethnic Chinese. Malays make up about 14 percent, with the rest Indian, Eurasian and others. Most of the people are Buddhists, Taoists or Christians, Muslims or Hindus.
Industry: One of the world's busiest shipping ports, Singapore has no natural resources and relies heavily on trade and the manufacture and export of electronic goods to the United States, Europe and Japan. It produces no crude oil, but is one of the world's biggest oil refining centers.
Economy: Singapore is currently in its worst-ever recession. The government says the economy will likely contract by 3 percent this year, after growing by a dizzying 9.9 percent in 2000.
Politics: Singapore is officially called a parliamentary democracy, but it is under tight political control.
Parties: The ruling People's Action Party, or PAP, has held power since 1959, and is now headed by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. Opposition parties include the Worker's Party, the Singapore Democratic Party and a coalition called the Singapore Democratic Alliance.