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.