GE2015: ESM Goh urges country to vote carefully, rebuild consensus after polls
[SINGAPORE] Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong put on the elder statesman hat on the last day of electoral campaigning on Wednesday as he reflected on the importance of choosing the next set of leaders and on maintaining unity after the polls.
"At this stage in the campaign, we want to cool down temperatures, get people to focus on the day after the election," Mr Goh said at a press conference with the People's Action Party's other candidates for the five-member Marine Parade group representation constituency.
Mr Goh, who has been a member of parliament since 1976 and was Prime Minister from 1990 to 2004, shared his experience on past elections.
The most important task after the elections are over is to rebuild national consensus, he said. Mr Goh compared the voting community to a piece of fabric that the different political parties tug at during the elections.
"In election times, who pulls that piece of fabric?...The PAP says it's mine, I've been in charge of this fabric for so many years, it's mine. Other parties will say, it's not yours, I want to have a share of it."
That conflict is healthy for a democracy during elections, but must be toned down after the polls, he said.
"The day after, life goes on. You've got to rebuild consensus," Mr Goh said, adding that it typically takes about a year for the country to move on from the last election.
He said he was heartened that there has been robust contest in the current election, and that the race and religion cards have not been played as campaign strategies. If Singapore's democratic system forces all parties to raise their standards and pick quality standards, that will benefit all.
"Then our system is robust," he said.
But Mr Goh, who could not help throwing in a bit of campaign rhetoric, stopped short of giving Singapore's democratic system a rousing endorsement, saying that his judgment still hinged on the outcome of the elections.
For the system to work, the people must be able to discern "between fact and rhetoric", Mr Goh said.
But his underlying message for the country was to think rationally, and with a long-term view, about selecting its next set of leaders.
On Thursday, when Cooling Off Day rules ban parties campaigning, voters should "cool down the temperature, listen to all the arguments, examine the candidates from all parties, and then decide for yourself."
The election takes place on Friday
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