Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said it is “ridiculous” to say the PAP can lose ministers without weakening the Government.
At a walkabout in Aljunied GRC on Apr 29, SM Lee told media that every team would have some more critical members and other members playing complementary roles.
“If it doesn’t matter who is in the team, then there should be no difficulty making a good government with anybody. You don’t need to assemble a strong group of people,” he said.
SM Lee was responding to comments by Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh that it would be a serious problem if the PAP needed more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats to govern properly.
“But anyway, he has to say that because he wants to knock out Mr Gan Kim Yong, and he can’t very well say ‘Mr Gan Kim Yong is a very valuable minister, but nevertheless, please vote for me.’ So, he has to say that.”
Deputy Prime Minister Gan is leading the PAP team in Punggol GRC in this election.
Ms Chan Hui Yuh, 48, who is leading the PAP team in Aljunied GRC, said the PAP team will rejuvenate Aljunied and make them more liveable if they are elected.
At Aljunied GRC, Chan Hui Yuh is leading four new candidates – unionist Jagathishwaran Rajo, managing director of urban planning consultancy Daniel Liu, company director Adrian Ang and dental surgeon Faisal Abdul Aziz.
In response to Mr Singh’s argument that amenities like hospitals and train stations would continue to be developed if the opposition were elected, SM Lee said that the government ensures basic facilities and services are developed across the island.
“But does the MP in a constituency make a difference? The answer is yes,” he said.
He asked voters to consider if an MP represents and speaks for the constituency and can work with the government. “I think the PAP team will be able to do that.”
He noted that the WP had said it has achieved green ratings for its town councils in the Ministry of National Development’s town council management report released in June.
“But some markers are greener than others,” he added, citing a park in Aljunied “where the swings have no swings for two years”.
“Any number of such things, if I can just start by putting those things right, and getting them up to scratch as they ought to be, which I am sure our PAP team is able to do, that already is significant.”
