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‘Find more ways to give more power to the people’
<cite class="byline vcard" style="font-style: normal; color: rgb(125, 125, 125); font-size: 12px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap; line-height: 2.2em; ">By Yahoo! Singapore | Yahoo! Newsroom – <abbr title="2011-09-22T03:09:50+00:00" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-variant: normal; ">2 hours 21 minutes ago</abbr></cite>
Lord Peter Mandelson said the trick for any party long in office is to recognise that with power comes great responsibility. (AP photo)
In relating to voters, Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) could draw lessons from the experience of New Labour’s loss of power in the British polls last year, said Lord Peter Mandelson on Wednesday.
Speaking at a public lecture at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, he advised the PAP to continuously forge an emotional bond with voters and ensure that the party does not lose its identity.
Lord Mandelson played an important role in the Labour Party’s transformation into New Labour in the 1990s. In its general election last year, the party suffered a defeat to the Conservatives after 13 years in government.
Touching on this loss, he explained, “This was because as a party, we had begun to drift, to misplace our New Labour identity. It became blurred over a number of years.”
He added that the final blow came when “we lost what I can best describe as our emotional connection with our voters”, reported The Straits Times.
The former European Commissioner for Trade said he chose the word “emotional” because “policies are rational but politics is emotional” and that people are driven in politics by emotional forces like passion, ambition and ideals.
He also drew similarities between his party and the PAP, saying, “The trick for any party long in office is to recognise that with power comes great responsibility.”
In addition, it must “find ways to give away more power to the people, rather than take more power into itself”.
Lord Mandelson stressed that the party must also communicate more effectively what it is doing and why, and at the same time replenishing its talent pool.
“Exclude those who underperform while remembering that policy is the main driver of renewal, not cosmetic changes of faces at the top,” he said.
The PAP he added, must ensure it does not become complacent by becoming its own chief critic, and although it has started responding, the road ahead is going to get harder with challenges such as immigration and ageing population.
Giving his advice to politicians, he said, they should “under-promise and over-deliver”. Otherwise, a government will face an “excess demand of expectations”, when in fact there is a limited supply of actions it can undertake.
Responding to a question on Singapore voters’ dissatisfaction over politicians’ salary, Lord Mandelson said the pay review committee has to strike a balance in ensuring that politicians are rewarded enough to prevent them from being corrupt, and keeping to amounts which people find reasonable.
“Good luck to it. I'm glad I'm not a member of it because damned if you do and damned if you don't,” he said.
<cite class="byline vcard" style="font-style: normal; color: rgb(125, 125, 125); font-size: 12px; display: inline-block !important; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap; line-height: 2.2em; ">By Yahoo! Singapore | Yahoo! Newsroom – <abbr title="2011-09-22T03:09:50+00:00" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-variant: normal; ">2 hours 21 minutes ago</abbr></cite>
Lord Peter Mandelson said the trick for any party long in office is to recognise that with power comes great responsibility. (AP photo)
In relating to voters, Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) could draw lessons from the experience of New Labour’s loss of power in the British polls last year, said Lord Peter Mandelson on Wednesday.
Speaking at a public lecture at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, he advised the PAP to continuously forge an emotional bond with voters and ensure that the party does not lose its identity.
Lord Mandelson played an important role in the Labour Party’s transformation into New Labour in the 1990s. In its general election last year, the party suffered a defeat to the Conservatives after 13 years in government.
Touching on this loss, he explained, “This was because as a party, we had begun to drift, to misplace our New Labour identity. It became blurred over a number of years.”
He added that the final blow came when “we lost what I can best describe as our emotional connection with our voters”, reported The Straits Times.
The former European Commissioner for Trade said he chose the word “emotional” because “policies are rational but politics is emotional” and that people are driven in politics by emotional forces like passion, ambition and ideals.
He also drew similarities between his party and the PAP, saying, “The trick for any party long in office is to recognise that with power comes great responsibility.”
In addition, it must “find ways to give away more power to the people, rather than take more power into itself”.
Lord Mandelson stressed that the party must also communicate more effectively what it is doing and why, and at the same time replenishing its talent pool.
“Exclude those who underperform while remembering that policy is the main driver of renewal, not cosmetic changes of faces at the top,” he said.
The PAP he added, must ensure it does not become complacent by becoming its own chief critic, and although it has started responding, the road ahead is going to get harder with challenges such as immigration and ageing population.
Giving his advice to politicians, he said, they should “under-promise and over-deliver”. Otherwise, a government will face an “excess demand of expectations”, when in fact there is a limited supply of actions it can undertake.
Responding to a question on Singapore voters’ dissatisfaction over politicians’ salary, Lord Mandelson said the pay review committee has to strike a balance in ensuring that politicians are rewarded enough to prevent them from being corrupt, and keeping to amounts which people find reasonable.
“Good luck to it. I'm glad I'm not a member of it because damned if you do and damned if you don't,” he said.
