PAP's Iswaran accuses PSP of 'untrue spin' in West Coast GRC poster takedown issue

Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran fired a volley at Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and its leader Dr Tan Cheng Bock over an incident that saw election posters taken down in West Coast GRC. 

The minister has accused PSP of giving an “untrue spin to this issue” through videos put out by the party. 

In a video posted on the PSP West Coast Facebook page late July 2, PSP campaign posters are seen being taken down from a lamp post. The caption noted that 50 posters had to be taken down under orders by Elections Department (ELD) following a complaint by West Coast Town Council. 

Led by party chief Dr Tan, PSP is taking on the incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP) team in West Coast, led by Iswaran.

“Hours of hard work went down the drain. It was puzzling because the PAP posters were left untouched,” the post claimed. 

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ELD has since clarified that a takedown was necessary for safety reasons and that both political parties contesting in West Coast — PAP and PSP — had been ordered to remove their posters from what is understood to be lamp posts in Clementi West Street 2. 

In a statement to AsiaOne, ELD said that political parties and candidates are required to seek consent from premises owners and occupiers for posters and banners to be put up. 

"In this case, ELD checked with West Coast Town Council, which is the premises owner/occupier where the same lamp posts are located,” ELD noted. 

"West Coast Town Council asked for the posters to be removed for public safety reasons, as they were affixed to open space lamp posts where high volume of traffic was expected”. 

In a Facebook post yesterday (July 3), Iswaran stated that the PAP has complied by taking down the posters. 

What he took issue with was that PSP and Dr Tan “have put out videos claiming the West Coast Town Council took down their posters”. 

PSP has clarified in its Facebook post that the takedown order was “from ELD after West Coast Town Council made a complaint”. In an Instagram post about the takedowns, Dr Tan also stated that “[they] are not going to blame anyone”. 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CCKgRxTnZP9/[/embed]

Minister Iswaran, however, called it “regrettable” that both Dr Tan and his party “have chosen to give an untrue spin to this issue”. 

“At a time when we are grappling with bigger issues like Covid, the economy and jobs, I think the residents of West Coast GRC and Singapore deserve better,” he wrote. 

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Police report

PSP had lodged a police report last night regarding the posters at Clementi West Street 2, noting that their posters had been shifted down below the minimum height level of 2.2 metres and that the orientation had been altered. 

Following investigations, police found no wrongdoing. 

“The police did not detect any tampering of the posters. We have updated PSP on our findings and they informed the police that they do not wish to pursue the matter further.” 

ilyas@asiaone.com