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Global political trends will affect Singapore, warns PM Lee at PAP Conference

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaking at Sunday's (4 December) PAP Conference and Party Awards event. (PHOTO: Nicholas Yong / Yahoo Newsroom)
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaking at Sunday’s (4 December) PAP Conference and Party Awards event. (PHOTO: Nicholas Yong / Yahoo Newsroom)

The trend towards populism and extremist politics in the West will have “major consequences” for small and open countries like Singapore, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

“I do not know how far this trend will go but I do not like the direction this trend is going,” said Lee, who was speaking in his capacity as secretary-general of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

Addressing some 2,500 party activists at the 34th PAP Conference and Party Awards held on Sunday (4 December) at the Singapore Expo, Lee noted that many people in developed countries are feeling a “profound angst and discontent”.

He pointed to the “nasty campaign” period of the recent US presidential election, which ended with the election of Donald Trump, as well as the Brexit vote in the UK as examples.

“Voters are fed up,” said Lee, not just with particular parties or leaders, but with the entire ‘political caste’ and what they perceive (to be) an out-of-touch elite. They have therefore become ‘insecure and inward-looking’ as they feel that their lives have not improved for many years,” he said.

Lee added that other extremist parties such as France’s National Front and Germany’s AfD are on the rise. It is also election season in Europe next year, with the Netherlands, France and Germany going to the polls, while far-right candidate Norbert Hofer has a good chance of winning the Austrian presidential election on Sunday.

Singapore, which has always depended on open trade and making friends around the world, will feel the impact of this shift in the political order, said Lee.

Furthermore, despite six years of negotiations, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) appears to be doomed by President-elect Trump’s declaration that the TPP is a bad deal for the US. “We have to accept the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Without the US, there is no TPP,” said Lee.

Nevertheless, Singapore will continue to pursue trade liberalisation with others in the region, such as through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Programme (RCEP).

“And we ourselves in Singapore must stay open, because if we close up like other countries, our people will be finished,” he said.

The members of the PAP's new Central Executive Committee on stage during Sunday's (4 December) PAP Conference and Party Awards event. (PHOTO: Nicholas Yong / Yahoo Newsroom)
The members of the PAP’s new Central Executive Committee on stage during Sunday’s (4 December) PAP Conference and Party Awards event. (PHOTO: Nicholas Yong / Yahoo Newsroom)

Party’s Central Executive Committee elected

At the conference, some 2,000 party activists also elected the PAP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) for 2017/18. The CEC is made up of the 12 party members who have gained the most votes, and the two members with the next highest number of votes.

Those elected on Sunday were: Lee Hsien Loong, Khaw Boon Wan, Yaacob Ibrahim, Teo Chee Hean, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Lim Swee Say, K. Shanmugam, Chan Chun Sing, Grace Fu, Gam Kim Yong, Halimah Yacob and Heng Swee Keat.

Ng Eng Hen, who was previously the PAP’s organising secretary, was missing from the list.

On this occasion, Tan Chuan-Jin and Vivian Balakrishnan were also co-opted into the CEC with another four more members yet to be co-opted. The specific roles for the CEC members, such as treasurer and organising secretary, will be determined when the CEC meets at a later date.