DPM Teo questions Png Eng Huat’s integrity
The war of words rages on.
In what is shaping up to the lightning-rod issue of the Hougang by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean brought Workers’ Party candidate Png Eng Huat’s integrity into question.
In a statement sent to the media by DPM Teo on Wednesday, he said: “Mr Low (Thia Khiang) stressed that ‘the selection of NCMP lies solely with the CEC… therefore whether a candidate wanted to be an NCMP or not, the decision is not his’. This is the opposite of the picture that Mr Png first tried to paint -- that he had taken his name off the ballot, and that he was not considered for the NCMP post because he did not want it.”
Teo said this “confirmed that Mr Png had not been telling the truth, and had indeed been rejected by the WP CEC as an NCMP. This is the real damage to the WP and Mr Png’s reputations.”
Driving home his point, Teo said, “The revelations of the past two days raise a new and serious question, while still leaving the original question unanswered. The new question is Mr Png’s integrity. Mr Png was not truthful when he tried to explain away why the WP did not select him as an NCMP.”
He added, “Voters should re-consider whether the WP is just tugging at their emotions but actually taking voters for granted. For a first world Parliament, the basic pre-requisite is that parliamentarians must be honest and truthful.”
The whole issue surrounding Png’s involvement in the NCMP scheme began on Sunday night, with Teo questioning Png’s calibre at a PAP rally.
A day later, Png told Channel News Asia that he had taken his name out of the ballot, only for him to correct himself the next day when he said he had objected to being considered for the NCMP scheme but went along with the ballot anyway. Leaked minutes of the NCMP ballot meeting were sent to the media, confirming that Png was indeed under consideration for the ballot.
On Tuesday, WP leader Low Thia Khiang subsequently defended the party’s stance saying that Png did inform him of his personal preference not to have his name added into the ballot box for the NCMP post for the East Coast GRC team.
But Low explained at the rally that “personal preference had to be set aside… Whether a candidate personally wanted to be an NCMP or not, the decision is not his. This is how I believe a collective leadership should function in a political party.”
Low fired back that the leaked minutes were “a weak attempt” at “sabotaging” the party’s by-election campaign.
Leader of WP’s East Coast GRC team in 2011, Eric Tan, confirmed with Yahoo! Singapore that to his knowledge, Png had indeed informed a few selected individuals of his personal preference which included Low, WP chairman Sylvia Lim, current NCMP Gerald Giam, and Glenda Han.
Tan also confirmed that at the CEC meeting that involved a total of 14 people present, Png did not bring the issue up when his name was added into the ballot box.
Meanwhile, when contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, PAP candidate for Hougang Desmond Choo did not wish to comment on the issue and said that his focus now remains to run his campaign in Hougang SMC.
“My focus is still making sure that we finish the campaign on a strong note. The strategy is still to reach out and touch as many lives as possible,” he said.
