GRCs to stay

[scroobal]

The word is that the PAP will retain the GRCs as its main defence in thwarting opposition entry into Parliament. This is despite Workers Party unexpected capture of Aljunied GRC and its subsequent retention. The introduction of minority PAP candidates to contest SMCs is not related to the issue of GRC which many of us thought might be related. Michael Palmer was the first "semi-minority"( half Chinese) in 2011, 23 years after GRC was introduced.

GRC was introduced in 1988 as direct result of JBJ retaining his Anson seat in GE1984. He lost his seat in 1986 after the court conviction. It was no surprise that Anson as a constituency disappeared for the 1988 GE. The irony of course is that JBJ is an Indian as the day is long and a minority.

So why the need to test the waters with half a Chinese and now a full fledged minority in the guise of Murali. The primary driver is that the minorities within the PAP felt that it showed them in bad light, and more importantly marginalised them even though they were Singaporeans. They also felt that the Government had not done enough to address this issue. They also cited countries where minority candidates were successful as Singapore was in the past. Then there is the question of a cabinet minister not having received the mandate. The biggest challenge is for the PAP to test the waters with a PAP Malay candidate which is coincidentally identical to the predicament that CJ Menon and his constitutional panel are now facing.

For some reason, I suspect that NSP might have received the same information as their press release was rather pointed and released 2 days ago;

There is absolutely no basis to contend that the Environment Minister is unable to be elected without the GRC system. If indeed he is unable to get elected on his own accord in a Single Member Constituency (SMC) , then he should not be in Parliament .

It looks like PAP will use the GRC to continue to carry less qualified and less appealing candidate and to absorb marginal SMCs such as Joo Chiat and continue to chip away at Opposition GRC with similar attacks that WP faced in Parliament and in the papers.

 

[kukubird59]

hahaha...truly an empty vessel.....not say I want to say....
always trying to be too clever by half.....
always trying to portray having close links with papee as if pple don't know u are a papee mole.....
always blah blah blah to state the obvious......
anybody with half a brain will know that under papee, GRCs will stay.....
got say like no say....

 

[glockman]

I liken the GRC to a cluster bomb. Very deadly and effective. It is thus not surprising to know it will stay. At least the WP has acquired the capability to deploy such a weapon.

 

[scroobye]

hahaha...truly an empty vessel.....not say I want to say....
always trying to be too clever by half.....
always trying to portray having close links with papee as if pple don't know u are a papee mole.....
always blah blah blah to state the obvious......
anybody with half a brain will know that under papee, GRCs will stay.....
got say like no say....

Careful you might get banned. This forum is akin to north Korea. Ironically the banner tries to pretend to be a freedom fighter

 

[hsienloong]

Careful you might get banned. This forum is akin to north Korea. Ironically the banner tries to pretend to be a freedom fighter

HOChing is a major shareholder here, Leongsam sold his soul to the devil long ago.

 

[kukubird59]

Careful you might get banned. This forum is akin to north Korea. Ironically the banner tries to pretend to be a freedom fighter

hahaha....of course we all know Scroobal is a protected species in SBF....
that twit already practised censorship recently.....
closing 1 of the thread that was deemed too embarrassing for Scroobal.....

 

[GoldenDragon]

hahaha...truly an empty vessel.....not say I want to say....
always trying to be too clever by half.....
always trying to portray having close links with papee as if pple don't know u are a papee mole.....
always blah blah blah to state the obvious......
anybody with half a brain will know that under papee, GRCs will stay.....
got say like no say....

back to your cage, kuku.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

The GRC is a potent drug for the PAP and also highly addictive. I suspect the upper echelons know the system breeds complacency in the lower ranks. No matter how you slice it, it's also impossible to make minorities feel truly equal as long as GRCs are in place. But since the benefits to the PAP are deemed to far outweigh the disadvantages, common sense dictates they will continue using it to fullest.

The opposition unfortunately cannot do anything except to build its ranks and up its game, attracting good talent in the process. One side effect of the system is that it acts as a filter. Parties capable of taking down a GRC are the only ones likely to be able to form the govt one day if needed.

 

[scroobal]

I had mistook Palmer's and Murali's entry as a desire for the PAP to move away from GRC. Boy was I wrong. And you are right, it is indeed a cluster bomb of them.

I liken the GRC to a cluster bomb. Very deadly and effective. It is thus not surprising to know it will stay. At least the WP has acquired the capability to deploy such a weapon.

 

[scroobal]

I think your point about breeding complacency is probably another reason to have some minorities to run the SMC gauntlet. It will pressure the less capable minorities to up their game. In 2011, LHL took to the sword over Minister performance in grassroots and Raymond Lim paid the price over Fangshan and East Coast GRC. In 2015, Tharman GRC was the best performer even outranking PM and his AMK GRC.

The GRC is a potent drug for the PAP and also highly addictive. I suspect the upper echelons know the system breeds complacency in the lower ranks. No matter how you slice it, it's also impossible to make minorities feel truly equal as long as GRCs are in place. But since the benefits to the PAP are deemed to far outweigh the disadvantages, common sense dictates they will continue using it to fullest.

The opposition unfortunately cannot do anything except to build its ranks and up its game, attracting good talent in the process. One side effect of the system is that it acts as a filter. Parties capable of taking down a GRC are the only ones likely to be able to form the govt one day if needed.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

I think your point about breeding complacency is probably another reason to have some minorities to run the SMC gauntlet. It will pressure the less capable minorities to up their game. In 2011, LHL took to the sword over Minister performance in grassroots and Raymond Lim paid the price over Fangshan and East Coast GRC. In 2015, Tharman GRC was the best performer even outranking PM and his AMK GRC.

And fielding minorities in SMCs is also probably a way to attract more capable minorities to join their ranks. It's also a problem the opposition as a whole faces.