PM asks for strong mandate

With strong backing and good growth, more Progress Packages can be given in future, he says

By Chua Mui Hoong
May 6, 2006
The Straits Times

JUST two days before Polling Day, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday said it was time to refocus the General Election on the key issue before Singaporeans - their future.

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday asked Singaporeans to give him a strong personal mandate when they go to the polls today, even as he shared some good news on the economy.

Speaking on the eve of Polling Day last night, he announced that the economy grew by 'more than 10 per cent' in the first three months of this year, topping initial estimates of 9.1 per cent.

This meant that the official growth forecast for the year, of 4 to 6 per cent, is likely to be revised upwards by the Trade and Industry Ministry, he added.

With good growth, the Government can share more of its budget surplus with people, and there can be more 'Progress Packages' from time to time, he promised.

Making a personal pitch for a strong mandate for his first election as PM, he asked Singaporeans to judge him by his 20-month track record as premier.

Since taking over in August 2004, Mr Lee and his team have introduced the ComCare fund for the needy, the Workfare bonus for low-wage workers, and the $2.6 billion Progress Package given out this month, which shares the Government's budget surplus with citizens.

Said Mr Lee at a PAP rally in Sembawang GRC: 'There is so much more which can be done, which must be done, and I ask for a strong personal mandate from you, a vote from you, so that my team and I can work together and do our best to serve you for the next five years and beyond that.'

To first-time and young voters, he had a special message: 'The future of Singapore is in your hands. Give me and my team a strong mandate to work with you for a safer Singapore, a stronger Singapore and a better Singapore.'

Mr Lee spelt out in concrete terms what his vision for Singapore entailed: Good jobs, top quality education, a first-class living environment, quality but affordable medical care, and focused and targeted assistance for the poor and needy. But even as the PAP looked far ahead, it would also attend to Singaporeans' day-to-day concerns, he said.

Noting that Singaporeans were concerned about cost of living and health care, jobs, old age and retirement, he said he understood they were worried about these issues.

He made this pledge: 'I will do more to take care of your needs and to take care of those who are in trouble - the poor, the elderly, the unemployed.'

He added: 'The best solution to our problems is to grow our economy, grow our wealth, accumulate surpluses, and when we have more reserves, we can distribute as Progress Packages, as Opportunity Fund, as ComCare fund, so that we help people who need help.'

From 8am to 8pm today, 1.22 million Singaporeans will vote in the Republic's 10th General Election. For the first time, Singaporeans overseas will also get a chance to vote, in eight cities.

In all, nine single-seat wards and seven group representation constituencies (GRCs) are being contested. The PAP has won walkovers in 37 seats and needs six more to form the majority in the 84-seat Parliament.

What many observers will be watching most closely, however, is by how large a margin, and how many seats, the PM and his team win today.

PM Lee has declined to speculate on a margin for the PAP. But former party chairman Tony Tan has said 60 to 65 per cent would be a 'very good result'.

Top questions on voters' minds: Will Mr Chiam See Tong's Potong Pasir, which he won by just 751 votes last time, fall to the PAP on the back of an $80 million upgrading carrot?

Will Mr Low Thia Khiang boost his margin in Hougang, given voters' likely approval for the way he turned the Workers' Party around from a failing one, with two candidates in 2001, to one with 20 this time round?

And how close will the fight be in Aljunied GRC, where a WP 'A team' led by party chairman Sylvia Lim challenges the incumbent PAP team led by Foreign Minister George Yeo?

The last day of campaigning saw candidates fan out in a last-ditch attempt to woo voters. At PAP rallies, candidates repeated the charge that the opposition had no real solutions to people's problems, whereas the PAP had a track record and plans for the future.

PM Lee said: 'After all the words, all the arguments, all the speeches and passions of the campaign, it's only one thing which is at stake - our future. Our future for ourselves, our future for our children.'