News: The Straits Times -  5 February 2010


No issue with opposition's strategy
JEREMY AU YONG


ZOOMING in on issues unpopular with the ground is a perfectly sound strategy for opposition parties.

The onus is on the ruling party to convince voters that these policies are right.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said yesterday that he took no issue with the opposition's tactic of targeting a single issue or a single minister.

'I think the strategy is correct so far as the opposition is concerned,' he said in reply to Singapore reporters in Bahrain.

'They must focus on policies which they think are unpopular or not working for Singapore or in Singaporeans' interest.'

He added: 'And if they can relate that policy to a particular minister, then it's quite right they focus on that minister and his policies.'

The Straits Times reported last week that three opposition parties have Tampines GRC in their sights for the coming election. They are convinced that there is an opportunity to hit out at housing policies due to unhappiness on the ground over the affordability of HDB flats. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan is the anchor minister of that GRC.

SM Goh said that even as the opposition zeroes in on these policies, the People's Action Party must be able to defend them.

Similarly, voters need to ask themselves if the opposition has a better solution: 'Are you just criticising without offering an alternative solution? If you can criticise and offer a superior alternative solution, which the voters believe, then of course the opposition will be in a strong position to win the votes,' he said.

Added Mr Goh: 'But if you criticise with no alternative solution, or without giving the full facts and the context, it is our job to point out that you are giving wrong information, giving figures out of context.'

On the timing of the next general election, he said he did not think it was any time soon: 'I don't think we're running up to the general election. We're walking towards the general election. It's not due until next year. So I don't know why there's this frenzy.'

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'I don't think we're running up to the general election. We're walking towards the general election. It's not due until next year. So I don't know why there's this frenzy.'

SM Goh

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- end of ST article