Was Sengkang GRC deliberately created to move WP away from East Coast GRC?
(Commentary/Opinion Piece by Contributor)
Post originally published on 16 July 2020 in Facebook and Instagram.
As the dust settles on the results of GE2020, and upon seeing more overseas votes for the Workers’ Party (WP) than People’s Action Party (PAP) in East Coast GRC, one has to wonder if the WP was actually robbed of East Coast and instead won Sengkang GRC as a consolation prize. Don’t get us wrong, we are not downplaying WP’s victory in gaining a historic second GRC. But was it the ‘right’ GRC? Before campaigning began, everyone knew WP is expected to field their second-best “Team B” at East Coast, especially since it was PAP’s worst-performing GRC in 2015. But so afraid was the PAP that they decided to send DPM Heng Swee Keat and his Plan there to defend East Coast.
There’s been many debates on what-if scenarios that could have allowed a WP victory in East Coast. The what-ifs include Heng Swee Keat staying in Tampines, or Jamus Lim being fielded in East Coast together with Nicole Seah. But all of these do not account for the fact that the new Sengkang GRC might have been created precisely to move WP’s resources away from East Coast in the first place. The old Punggol East SMC, which WP’s Lee Li Lian won in a by-election and then lost in 2015, was absorbed into this new Sengkang GRC. This ensured that the WP would almost definitely contest in this new GRC. In effect, WP had to spread out its candidates due to this, but they did well to concentrate their hold by contesting less seats in GE2020 with 21 candidates, down from 28 in 2015.
When Nomination Day revealed where the candidates will be contesting, it seemed that WP was fielding its Team B at East Coast as anticipated. Nicole Seah was not fielded in Marine Parade GRC where she contested in 2011 under the National Solidarity Party (NSP). Instead, her placement in East Coast together with 3 experienced WP members Terence Tan, Dylan Ng, and Kenneth Foo seemed to lend credence to the belief that WP was indeed gunning for East Coast. So even though WP’s East Coast Team is arguably stronger than its Sengkang Team, they won the new GRC instead.
Reasons supporting the Sengkang GRC Creation Theory:
- PAP fielded a relatively weak team in Sengkang GRC
The PAP knew they had to defend East Coast at all costs. Sending Heng Swee Keat there was a risk, but a calculated one. At West Coast, they sent 2 Ministers to fend off Tan Cheng Bock. After WP won Sengkang however, the media kept saying that “3 office holders” lost their seats. Oh please, previously they would almost never use that to refer to a mere Minister of State (i.e. not a full Minister) or Parliamentary Secretary, senior or not. And the anchor Minister assigned to lead this team? The ex-General Ng Chee Meng, a one-term Minister at the PMO and Secretary-General of NTUC or so-called “Labour Chief”. That wasn’t quite enough but at least PAP wanted to give it a fight.
2. PM Lee offering WP’s Pritam Singh position of “Leader of the Opposition” so quickly
As much as the PAP was ready to set aside 12 NCMP positions for the ‘best losers’, the quick but vague announcement by PM Lee to formalise the Leader of the Opposition title seems to suggest that he was ready in the event WP wins another GRC. Still, PAP wanted to prevent the fall of East Coast GRC, but wouldn’t mind Sengkang GRC as much — a lesser price to pay if you will. PAP must have analysed the situation and was prepared for a scenario where WP wins Sengkang, which is after all a new GRC with mostly untested conditions. WP Party Chief Pritam Singh said he wasn’t feeling “euphoric” the night of the results. But why shouldn’t he? To date, WP performed the best in the Opposition history of post-Independent Singapore! Could it be that he’d rather win East Coast?
Imagine if Sengkang GRC wasn’t created, WP would have channelled its resources and best candidates to win East Coast GRC. Punggol East SMC could also possibly be retaken by WP. If WP also retained Aljunied and Hougang, that would have given them a grand total of 12 seats, instead of the 10 they won.
However, of course these are all merely speculative in nature. Fact remains that despite WP’s achievements, it is not easy for Opposition to make a breakthrough in the system PAP put in place to ensure their own dominance. Look at how Tan Cheng Bock’s new Progress Singapore Party (PSP) entered the scene so spectacularly but still couldn’t win a single elected seat. So it is also worthy for us to understand that with the mechanisms designed to keep PAP in power, how proud we should be for the Opposition to come this far in spite of it all.
