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PAP will be voted out one day: MM Lee
IN HIS new book which launches today, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew spoke about the possibility of Singapore's ruling party being voted out.
Mr Lee predicted that voters will "get tired of a stable government and say let's try the opposition".
The People's Action Party (PAP) is the dominant party in Singapore and has held power since 1954. Mr Lee was its party leader until 1992 and now remains on its central executive committee.
"There will come a time when eventually the public will say, look, let's try the other side, either because the PAP has declined in quality or the opposition has put up a team which is equal to the PAP and they say, let's try the other side. That day will come."
He also added: "No system lasts for forever, that's for sure. In the next 10 years to 20 years, I don't think it'll happen. Beyond that, I cannot tell. Will we always be able to get the most dedicated and the most capable, with integrity to devote their lives to this? I hope so, but forever, I don't know."
Mr Lee referred to the Liberal Party in Japan as an example. The party held power from 1955 to 2009, with an 11-month interruption from 1993 to 1994.
He said that the downfall of the Japanese party was partly because it "carried on with old ideas".
These were some predictions and remarks made by Mr Lee while he was being interviewed by a team of journalists from The Straits Times for his new book, Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going, to be launched today at St Regis Singapore.
According to a report in The Straits Times, he said that such changes could take place suddenly - if the PAP leadership splits - or gradually, if the PAP declines in quality.
If the opposition assembles a team equal to the PAP, the ruling party might decline gradually as well.
Mr Lee said: "If the decline in standards happens gradually, an opposition of quality will be launched. The public can sense it. If it is sudden, well, you're landed with an emergency, and unless a credible team emerges, the country will start to go down the drain."
However, he was confident that Singapore's political system would be able to survive a handover of power.
Such safeguards include the elected presidency, free and regular elections and a bureaucracy separated from the political leadership.
"If we are voted out, the system is still working," he said.
Growing wage gap potential trouble for PAP
Mr Lee singled out a potential source of trouble for the PAP - the growing wage gap.
This issue could spark potential class interests.
"There could be a time when the interest of the upper middle class will be divergent, that they don't think they should subsidise the lower classes. They may well support a party which says, 'No, I don't think this taxation is right. Why should I support the people in the two-room and three-room and four-room flats?' We will widen the divide in our society. I don't know when, but it will come."
To prevent an entrenchment of a "disaffected, discontented and rebellious" underclass, like in America, the Government went out of its way to cater to the lower-income.
But Mr Lee insisted that using welfare payments would not work in Singapore, as the country "will not perform".
During the interview sessions for his book, Mr Lee was also probed for his views on liberal democracy.
He was not convinced of the superiority of democracy - if it was clearly a better system, it would have "taken over the world", just as the market economy has, he said.
Mr Lee did, however, say that democracy had one great attraction: it allowed for non-violent changes of government.
Although he thought the PAP would lose power one day, Mr Lee dismissed the suggestion that it should therefore aid the opposition.
He quoted from a note from younger ministers: "If voters elect more oppposition MPs, so be it. But we do not believe that helping to build an oposition, to buy insurance in case the PAP fails, will work. Instead it will lead to mroe party politicking and distraction from long-term issues."
Mr Lee added: "I'm not out here to justify the PAP or the present government. I am beyond that phase."
IN HIS new book which launches today, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew spoke about the possibility of Singapore's ruling party being voted out.
Mr Lee predicted that voters will "get tired of a stable government and say let's try the opposition".
The People's Action Party (PAP) is the dominant party in Singapore and has held power since 1954. Mr Lee was its party leader until 1992 and now remains on its central executive committee.
"There will come a time when eventually the public will say, look, let's try the other side, either because the PAP has declined in quality or the opposition has put up a team which is equal to the PAP and they say, let's try the other side. That day will come."
He also added: "No system lasts for forever, that's for sure. In the next 10 years to 20 years, I don't think it'll happen. Beyond that, I cannot tell. Will we always be able to get the most dedicated and the most capable, with integrity to devote their lives to this? I hope so, but forever, I don't know."
Mr Lee referred to the Liberal Party in Japan as an example. The party held power from 1955 to 2009, with an 11-month interruption from 1993 to 1994.
He said that the downfall of the Japanese party was partly because it "carried on with old ideas".
These were some predictions and remarks made by Mr Lee while he was being interviewed by a team of journalists from The Straits Times for his new book, Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going, to be launched today at St Regis Singapore.
According to a report in The Straits Times, he said that such changes could take place suddenly - if the PAP leadership splits - or gradually, if the PAP declines in quality.
If the opposition assembles a team equal to the PAP, the ruling party might decline gradually as well.
Mr Lee said: "If the decline in standards happens gradually, an opposition of quality will be launched. The public can sense it. If it is sudden, well, you're landed with an emergency, and unless a credible team emerges, the country will start to go down the drain."
However, he was confident that Singapore's political system would be able to survive a handover of power.
Such safeguards include the elected presidency, free and regular elections and a bureaucracy separated from the political leadership.
"If we are voted out, the system is still working," he said.
Growing wage gap potential trouble for PAP
Mr Lee singled out a potential source of trouble for the PAP - the growing wage gap.
This issue could spark potential class interests.
"There could be a time when the interest of the upper middle class will be divergent, that they don't think they should subsidise the lower classes. They may well support a party which says, 'No, I don't think this taxation is right. Why should I support the people in the two-room and three-room and four-room flats?' We will widen the divide in our society. I don't know when, but it will come."
To prevent an entrenchment of a "disaffected, discontented and rebellious" underclass, like in America, the Government went out of its way to cater to the lower-income.
But Mr Lee insisted that using welfare payments would not work in Singapore, as the country "will not perform".
During the interview sessions for his book, Mr Lee was also probed for his views on liberal democracy.
He was not convinced of the superiority of democracy - if it was clearly a better system, it would have "taken over the world", just as the market economy has, he said.
Mr Lee did, however, say that democracy had one great attraction: it allowed for non-violent changes of government.
Although he thought the PAP would lose power one day, Mr Lee dismissed the suggestion that it should therefore aid the opposition.
He quoted from a note from younger ministers: "If voters elect more oppposition MPs, so be it. But we do not believe that helping to build an oposition, to buy insurance in case the PAP fails, will work. Instead it will lead to mroe party politicking and distraction from long-term issues."
Mr Lee added: "I'm not out here to justify the PAP or the present government. I am beyond that phase."
