'It misleads the voters': ESM Goh Chok Tong calls out claims that losing ministers won't weaken govt

Claims from opposition parties that losing political office holders won't weaken the government is "plain and simple" electioneering, said Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday (April 30), ESM Goh provided his take on the potential impact that losing ministers could have on the government, using the analogy of a football team.

He wrote: "If four seasoned members of a football team's starting 11 are absent, will the team be weaker? According to the opposition, the answer is 'no'. Because you can use the reserves, they say."

ESM Goh, who turns 84 later this month, questioned this train of thought, and stated that, even with "capable substitutes", nothing beats having "your first team on the field".

Continuing with his analogy, he provided the potential scenario of The Workers' Party (WP) winning all 26 seats they are contesting in and the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) winning five seats in West Coast-Jurong West GRC.

ESM Goh asked: "What is the scoreline then? Sixty-six PAP (People's Action Party) MPs and 31 opposition MPs. Ten political office holders lost, including four seasoned Cabinet ministers."

The ministers referred to are Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong who is a Punggol GRC candidate; Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong who's running in East Coast GRC; Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli running in Tampines GRC and National Development Minister Desmond Lee running in West Coast-Jurong West GRC.

ESM Goh, who was the Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, stressed that such an outcome would make it "difficult" for PM Lawrence Wong to compete with other nations on the world stage.

"In a world at risk of becoming 'might is right', we need the strongest team for our little red dot. If the opposition continues to assert that the government will not be weakened, that is electioneering, plain and simple. It misleads the voters," he added.

"Singapore deserves the best team to lead us domestically and internationally. It also deserves honest political debate."

'Voters cannot have both'

In a separate Facebook post on April 25, ESM Goh urged voters to consider the impact of their votes.

He noted that voters want PAP to form the government while "understandably" also wanting to return more opposition candidates to parliament.

But, according to ESM Goh, "voters cannot have both" and must decide to choose one or the other.

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amierul@asiaone.com

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