Political heavyweights retire from active politics ahead of Singapore election
Goh Chok Tong and Low Thia Khiang, two of the biggest names in Singaporean politics who formerly led their parties and over decades crossed swords in parliament, have retired from active politics " marking the end of an era in the republic's electoral history.
Goh, who served as prime minister from 1990-2004 after succeeding independence leader Lee Kuan Yew, on Thursday told Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong he would not stand as an MP in the country's July 10 general election.
"Having served as a member of parliament for Marine Parade for over four decades, I make this decision after much thought and a heavy heart," Goh, 79, wrote in a letter to Lee that was released to the media. "Many have urged me to stand another term. But I should not. I would not have the same energy when I cross into my 80s."
After handing power to Prime Minister Lee " Lee Kuan Yew's son " in 2004, Goh served as a senior minister in the cabinet. He relinquished that position in 2011 but continued as an MP for the long-ruling People's Action Party (PAP), holding the title "emeritus senior minister".
Prime Minister Lee in a Facebook post said he was "forever indebted" to the senior politician, who first roped him into politics.
"Ours was a fruitful comradeship that spanned the entirety of my years in politics and most of his " a close friendship between two prime ministers that would be the envy of many countries," Lee wrote.
On the other side of the country's narrow political spectrum, the opposition Workers' Party said Low, its 63-year-old former leader, would not stand in the polls as part of an internal renewal process. The party won six seats in the last general election in 2015 and is the only opposition group with elected lawmakers.
Low Thia Khiang, pictured here in 2015, took over leadership of the Workers' Party in 2001. Photo: Xinhua alt=Low Thia Khiang, pictured here in 2015, took over leadership of the Workers' Party in 2001. Photo: Xinhua
The announcement confirmed earlier speculation that the veteran politician would retire as an MP after 29 years, having handed over leadership of the party to current secretary general Pritam Singh in 2018.
Low's candidacy was also thrown into doubt after he sustained a head injury from a fall at home in April. He has since recovered after a three-week hospital stay.
Singh told reporters the retirement of Low and two other incumbent MPs, Chen Show Mao and Png Eng Huat, would help the party expand its leadership base.
"If there is no renewal of Workers' Party MPs, over time, the party will not be able to attract new members to join and aspire to serve Singapore and Singaporeans as opposition MPs," Singh said. "The absence of new blood will set the party back in its growth as a credible and institutionalised opposition."
Low became an MP in 1991, in the first general election Goh called after becoming prime minister the previous year. In his debut as premier, Goh labelled the ruling party's manifesto "The Next Lap". When Low won and brought the Workers' Party back into parliament, he turned the PAP's slogan on its head as he declared: "This is the beginning of the next lap."
In 2001, Low took over the leadership of the Workers' Party and immediately began to restructure the tiny opposition group " founded in 1957, three years after the PAP " to make it a more potent political force.
The businessman enforced an ethos that the party had to be "rational, responsible and respectable" to win over voters who overwhelmingly backed the PAP, the party that won the country independence and later force-marched the economy to first-world status in a generation.
In 2011, Low left the Hougang seat to contest in the five-member Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC). Victory there, the first ever GRC win for the opposition, marked a major milestone for the Workers' Party. It retained the ward in 2015 by a thin margin, after the party became embroiled in multiple scandals.
Low, party chairperson Sylvia Lim and current party chief Singh were last year found liable for millions of dollars in a civil suit relating to the mismanagement of municipal funds. They have appealed the verdict.
The Workers' Party on Thursday said it would field 21 candidates in six constituencies in the election, and its showing would give an indication of whether the decline in its vote share in 2015 was due to a nationwide swing in favour of the PAP or dwindling support on the back of its leaders' legal troubles.
The opposition group is the biggest of 11 small parties that will face off with the ruling party in 93 parliamentary seats. The PAP is expected to record a relatively comfortable victory in the extraordinary pandemic-time elections, having retained a legislative supermajority since 1968.
Local political observer Felix Tan said Thursday's developments were yet another milestone in the political transition that had been taking place in the country in recent years, both in the PAP and the Workers' Party.
"These two stalwarts of politics in Singapore have indeed been the highlight of the political transition in Singapore, especially in the post-Lee Kuan Yew era," Tan said. "Singapore's political landscape has changed and now would be the best time to let the younger team lead the country forward " be it the incumbent or the opposition."
President Halimah Yacob, a former long-time PAP MP, offered praise for both leaders on social media.
In a Facebook post, she said it was an "uncanny coincidence" that the two men announced their respective decisions not to contest the polls on the same day given their well known "mutual respect".
"To many Singaporeans, today's announcements mark the end of an era, as both Mr Goh and Mr Low have been long-time figures in our political scene," the president wrote.
"On behalf of all Singaporeans, I would like to thank both Mr Goh and Mr Low for their long years of service, and wish them well."
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
