Back from another Teh Tarik and late night Prata session.
Here is the PM's dilemma - no one is ready to assure him that a victory for the PAP is guaranteed and here is the main reason why;
- they actually do not have a suitable candidate and if the opposition springs a charismatic candidate as a surprise, they might actually be in trouble. In their current pool,they have the usual standard fare - scholars of the same mould and a few less than colourful chaps etc. By the way Ong KY is not in the running. Apparently his capital stock is not paying dividends. The strike is too closely linked to his bad work.
Unlike a GE, where the PAP can slip in lesser qualities thru GRC setups, it is not the same as in a SMC and where the entire nation's attention is focused in one place. That also includes all the online forms. By the way, those who were present realised that all well known forums are actually anti establishment including Hardware Zone. The forums have a higher profile and carry more informative content than blogs. And where the blogs are influential, they are in the hands of anti establishment or liberal identities.
The decision is to wait for the dust to settle before a detailed ground reading is undertaken. It will not be confined to Punggol but the entire country. As a by elections tends to be a proxy battle for all of Singapore.
The PM cannot use the Ong Chit Chung GRC argument to make the case for not having a BE. He also cannot find a reason to state the difference between Hougang and Ponggol. He really wants to have a BE but he cannot afford to lose this seat.
Funnily his dilemma would have been the same if Palmer had died in office. Their assessment is that Palmer was so well regarded that his "grave" mistake would not be result in a voters backlash. As one pundit suggested, it looks like his resignation might have been too hasty. They should have just removed him as speaker as punishment.
Looks like at this stage no one really knows what he will do. It might be a finger in the air after all.
Here is the PM's dilemma - no one is ready to assure him that a victory for the PAP is guaranteed and here is the main reason why;
- they actually do not have a suitable candidate and if the opposition springs a charismatic candidate as a surprise, they might actually be in trouble. In their current pool,they have the usual standard fare - scholars of the same mould and a few less than colourful chaps etc. By the way Ong KY is not in the running. Apparently his capital stock is not paying dividends. The strike is too closely linked to his bad work.
Unlike a GE, where the PAP can slip in lesser qualities thru GRC setups, it is not the same as in a SMC and where the entire nation's attention is focused in one place. That also includes all the online forms. By the way, those who were present realised that all well known forums are actually anti establishment including Hardware Zone. The forums have a higher profile and carry more informative content than blogs. And where the blogs are influential, they are in the hands of anti establishment or liberal identities.
The decision is to wait for the dust to settle before a detailed ground reading is undertaken. It will not be confined to Punggol but the entire country. As a by elections tends to be a proxy battle for all of Singapore.
The PM cannot use the Ong Chit Chung GRC argument to make the case for not having a BE. He also cannot find a reason to state the difference between Hougang and Ponggol. He really wants to have a BE but he cannot afford to lose this seat.
Funnily his dilemma would have been the same if Palmer had died in office. Their assessment is that Palmer was so well regarded that his "grave" mistake would not be result in a voters backlash. As one pundit suggested, it looks like his resignation might have been too hasty. They should have just removed him as speaker as punishment.
Looks like at this stage no one really knows what he will do. It might be a finger in the air after all.
