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Political researcher James Gomez once said to me: “Elections in Singapore all follow a pattern. The first two or three days of the campaign are about the issues and the rest are about a man.” At the time, he was referring to general elections. I see now that it applies equally to by-elections.
The People’s Action Party (PAP) has made character assassination its chief campaign strategy. Again. The “man” in this instance is obvious – it is Png Eng Huat, the Workers’ Party candidate in Hougang. I see that today’s mainstream Straits Times has whipped itself up into a suitably loyal frenzy by using the phrase “allegations of dishonesty” in one of its headlines.
If there’s anyone out there who still believes that the PAP has changed since last year’s general election when it took a beating, its behaviour at this Hougang by-election should disabuse him of the thought. The PAP continues to behave the way it has long behaved. I am tempted to say PAP stands for “Politics on Auto-Pilot”.
- http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/hougang-by-election-campaign-shows-pap-on-auto-pilot/
The People’s Action Party (PAP) has made character assassination its chief campaign strategy. Again. The “man” in this instance is obvious – it is Png Eng Huat, the Workers’ Party candidate in Hougang. I see that today’s mainstream Straits Times has whipped itself up into a suitably loyal frenzy by using the phrase “allegations of dishonesty” in one of its headlines.
If there’s anyone out there who still believes that the PAP has changed since last year’s general election when it took a beating, its behaviour at this Hougang by-election should disabuse him of the thought. The PAP continues to behave the way it has long behaved. I am tempted to say PAP stands for “Politics on Auto-Pilot”.
- http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/hougang-by-election-campaign-shows-pap-on-auto-pilot/
