Advertisement

If PAP loses Aljunied, voters have 5 years to repent: MM Lee

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has warned Aljunied voters that they will have to live with the decision for the next five years and 'repent' if they voted in the Workers' Party (WP) team at Aljunied GRC.

MM Lee, who was speaking at the Radin Mas branch on Saturday, added that he does not consider it a major setback if the People's Action Party (PAP) loses the Aljunied GRC, and it would not be 'the end of the world' and the PAP would fight to get it back.

"We accept the verdict of the people, but they must also accept the consequences of their actions. You must expect the PAP to look after PAP constituencies first."

MM Lee also questioned WP's real intentions.

"It's not just to win one GRC. Let's have no hypocrisy about this, every political party sets out to win and win a majority and they are setting out from a single constituency to a GRC and then expand to more GRCs and then take over. It's up to you to decide whether they are capable of running Singapore," he said.

MM Lee's latest comments on the WP's contest in Aljunied GRC comes after he warned voters on Friday that they will "pay a price, the hard way" if they voted for the Opposition.

The high-powered 'A' team from the Workers's Party contesting the Aljunied hotspot consists of former Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang, former NCMP Sylvia Lim, the party's "star catch" Chen Show Mao as well as family counsellor Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap and post-graduate law student Pritam Singh.

They will be up against the incumbent PAP team fronted by Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Madam Cynthia Phua and new face Ong Ye Kung, an assistant secretary-general of NTUC .

On Saturday, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong also commented on the impact should Mr Yeo and his Aljunied GRC team be voted out of Parliament.

Speaking at a rally in Marine Parade GRC, SM Goh said Mr Yeo has been handling delicate negotiations with Malaysia and Indonesia on border issues.

Describing that Singapore has a "beautiful arrangement" - with an Indian as President, a Chinese as Prime Minister and a Malay, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, as potential Speaker of Parliament, SM Goh highlighted that 'on the basis of merit we ended up with this, a politically balanced, beautiful picture'.

"You knock out George Yeo and Zainul Abidin. Well, you'll have to look for another Speaker on the basis of merit. Well, that person may not be Zainul Abidin once he's out, or another Malay MP.

"These are the fine points of politics which we in PAP understand, which we try to manage quietly. But the opposition says never mind, George Yeo can be a diplomat. Come off it, that's not the way you build up a first rate government."

Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

This article is published by Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd., 60 Anson Road #13-01 Mapletree Anson, Singapore, 079914.