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SINGAPORE: The Minister of Trade and Industry, Chan Chun Sing, on Thursday (3 September) asked the Member of Parliament (MP) of the Workers’ Party (WP), Dennis Tan, to substantiate the accusation that representatives of the Party of Popular Action (PAP) had moved the WP election campaign posters.
Tan, who is an MP for Hougang, told Parliament on Monday that a resident said he saw a PAP team doing that.
“During the elections, a resident told me that she had witnessed the PAP team move our posters from their original height. She showed me where they supposedly took place, and I had no reason to doubt what she said,” Tan said.
Calling it a “serious accusation,” Chan said in Parliament: “Anyone making such accusations publicly should substantiate their accusations with evidence, even more so when such accusations are made in this House.
“And in the spirit of constructive politics that we have discussed in the last few days in this House, it cannot be that a member stands up to raise doubts and does not move forward to substantiate his accusations.”
READ: Workers Party Dennis Tan GE2020 campaign posters sparked complaints about height requirements, says ELD amid tampering claim
Tan had said Monday that two complaints were made to the Elections Department (ELD) during the July General Election that his billboards were below the required height of 2.2 m.
ELD confirmed later that day that the complaints were related to the height requirement, which was implemented to ensure that the signs do not obstruct the line of sight of motorists.
ELD WILL FINALLY AND FAIRLY INVESTIGATE: CHAN CHUN SING
Speaking at the beginning of the parliamentary session on Thursday, Mr. Chan said that the ELD takes all these allegations seriously and will investigate them “thoroughly and impartially.”
He noted that when Tan was “challenged” in Parliament by PAP MP Murali Pillai for the comments, Mr. Tan had “acknowledged that ELD has been ‘impartial’ in handling complaints received from all political parties and candidates. “.
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Mr. Chan also said that the ELD has not received a report from Mr. Tan on the matter.
“In his press release on August 31, ELD invited him to submit a report so that he could investigate the matter,” Chan told parliament.
“Mr. Tan responded to ELD on September 2 that he did not report to ELD during the GE as he was concentrating on his election campaign and had no plans to do so now.”
The ELD had also explained in its statement that its enforcement approach when receiving such complaints is to request the election agent to rectify the signs that violate the rules within three hours.
CNA has contacted Tan for comment.
“ELD takes all of these allegations seriously and will investigate them thoroughly and impartially,” said Mr. Chan. “This is to be fair to all parties involved, protect the integrity of the electoral processes and continue to maintain confidence in our elections.”
