ASEAN leaders surprised, saddened by George Yeo’s defeat
Senior Minister S. Jayakumar says ASEAN ministers and leaders were saddened and surprised by George Yeo's defeat in Saturday's polls.
SM Jayakumar, who is representing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the ASEAN summit in Jakarta, said: "Nearly everyone I spoke to - ministers and the leaders - were saddened and disappointed, and surprised to know that Foreign Minister George Yeo has lost.
Mr Yeo's team lost the battle in Aljunied GRC to the Workers' Party (WP) 'A-star' team, led by former Hougang MP Low Thia Kiang, top lawyer Chen Show Mao, party chairman Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh and Abdul Faisal Manap.
The WP won the key GRC hotseat, beating the People's Action Party team by a surprisingly clear margin of 54 percent to 45 percent of votes. Aljunied GRC comprised over 143,000 voters.
The loss by the PAP team means the Cabinet will lose two Ministers in George Yeo and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua. Lim is also a Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for Transport.
"Why were they saddened? Because to them, George Yeo has been a very articulate, able spokesman for Singapore.
"But not only that. They consider him as one of the most ardent advocates for the cause of ASEAN. Highly articulate; a champion of ASEAN in representing ASEAN to the rest of the world," said SM Jayakumar, who will be retiring from politics.
He also described Mr Yeo as having immense talent and did not discount the possibility of him being given another role.
Turning his attention to the election outcome, which saw WP creating history by capturing the first GRC for the opposition, SM Jayakumar said it was a major step in the evolution of Singapore's parliamentary and political system.
"Things will change, and with every change we need to ensure that it is for the positive and not negative," he said.
"All the criticisms that have been made about us and our system that it stifles the opposition, that the GRCs perpetuate the ruling party. Well, it has been proven wrong, because the system works."
