The battle for Singaporean votes may be long over — the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) won by a surprising landslide by the way — but Reform Party’s Gilbert Goh is not giving up the fight.
The scrimmage however might not go his way at all. Goh has effectively tempted a luxurious lawsuit crashing on his head when he recently lodged a complaint with the United Nations themselves, alleging that PAP (gasp!) rigged the recent general election.
Goh’s letter, which presumably has been sent to the United Nations offices in Bangkok, states that the government had been practicing “unfair unethical practices” that secured their continued victory in elections.
Some things that he finds unfair include:
– The injection of new citizen voters (“so they can usher in to vote for the ruling party out of loyalty”)
– Gerrymandering (“…boundary changes is also more critical as it allows the government to flood certain opposition-held wards with new citizen voters”)
– Demarcation of the People’s Association from PAP (“PA is a statutory board which is supposed to be non-partisan but its activities is all along very pro-PAP”)
– Election Department falling under the Prime Minister Office (“…it gives the ruling party a huge advantage especially when the ED can influence significant boundary changes and when it can call for a election after consulting the PM giving little time for the opposition to prepare”)
– Control over mainstream media (“Information is mostly slanted to benefit the ruling party and this press behaviour is not unlike that of communist bloc countries like China or Russia”)
Well that’s a lot to think about. “My fear is that if the following unfair unethical practices are to go unchecked, it will be the accepted norm and we may see a one-party rule for a very long time – something which many Singaporeans are uncomfortable with,” he asserts.
Would he be considered a persistent political brawler fighting for change or just another sore loser?
Photo: Gilbert Goh Facebook page
