GENERAL ELECTIONS (Allocation of rally sites)

Column No : 1998

GENERAL ELECTIONS:

(Allocation of rally sites): 20.

Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the procedure for allocation of rally sites during General Elections will be reviewed to ensure a more equitable distribution of sites among political parties.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Wong Kan Seng) (for the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance): Mr Speaker, Sir, Police has put in place a fair and transparent system for allocating rally sites. It is on a first-come, first-served basis. As the number of rally sites in each constituency is finite, it would not be always possible to grant the applicant the requested site at a specific time if another applicant has already applied and obtained approval for the same site earlier. This could happen to any political party at any constituency.

As in previous General Elections (GE), Police will pre-designate certain sites as election rally sites. Following the announcement of the General Elections, Police will provide information on the particulars of the Police Liaison Officer (Election), the location of his office, the process for the application to use rally sites as well as the operational hours of the Liaison Office.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Sir, I would like to ask the DPM whether he is aware that during the last election and the previous one, under the current system of so-called "first-come, first-served" basis, it allowed the PAP to queue up at the station, which was supposed to be open only at 8.00 am, 24 hours from Nomination Day. And the end result was that many times, the Opposition was not able to get a rally site. For instance, at the last election, both rally sites available at Nee Soon East and Hougang were all booked by the PAP, and as a result of which, we did not have any rally sites available on the eve of Polling Day.

If I recall correctly, in the previous election in 1997, there were cases where -

Mr Speaker: Mr Low, can you make your questions short? What is your question?

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Sir, I am asking the DPM whether he is aware of the situation. It is a supplementary question but I have to describe the situation to him.

Mr Speaker: Make it short, please.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: At the 1997 election, there were cases where the PAP booked all the rally sites and had them withdrawn in the afternoon, so as to make sure that the Opposition election agents who were there in the morning were not able to get their rally sites.

My next supplementary question is whether or not the DPM is satisfied with the outcome of the current system of a first-come, first-served basis, and whether this is a desirable outcome which the Government wishes to see, ie, the consequential effect to deny the Opposition a rally site and a chance to engage and tell the voters what we have to say.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, it looks like Mr Low is very familiar with the queuing system and, surely, the PAP cannot have the monopoly of queuing in front all the time. Since the Opposition is aware that allocation is on a first-come, first-served basis, then they go there and queue. I suppose that is the most transparent of all the systems. The Police is not in a position to decide whether it is desirable or not desirable. It has made available the facilities. It has made available to all concerned who want to contest the timing for the issue of the permit. At the same time, everyone is familiar with what is required to apply for such a permit to hold an election rally. So I am sure that political parties, being ingenious as they are, will know what to do to deal with the situation in order to cope with the competition that they face. I think that is the best for all. And if Mr Low thinks he has been done in, then it is time that he be better prepared.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: So the DPM is saying that whoever is interested to contest or wants a rally site, he would have to be there on Nomination Day as the PAP and keep on queuing up 24 hours, providing whatever resources he has in order to have -

Mr Speaker: Order. I must insist that you ask your question.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: That is a question.

Mr Speaker: That is not a question. That is a statement.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: I think it is a question. I am asking the DPM whether or not he means that an Opposition party or the PAP would have to be there on the first day of nomination to queue up. Secondly, I am asking whether or not he deems the outcome, as what I have described earlier on, ie, denying an Opposition to speak to the voters, especially on the eve of Polling Day, is a desirable outcome of the policy and the system that the Government designs.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, I do not think it is the Police's job to decide who chooses it first. The system is there for people to see and Mr Low knows how it is done and it is for him to work it out himself. Surely, the rally is not the only occasion for the political parties to reach out to the people. The PAP does it all the time, so does the Workers' Party, and so do, I believe, all the other political parties that have an interest to contest in an election. If he thinks that the only time for him to get to the ground is through the rally, maybe he has not worked hard enough. But I think the Workers' Party has worked very hard. So do not be diffident about this.

Mr Speaker: Last question, Mr Low.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: First of all, I thank the DPM for his comments on the Workers' Party. But having said that, I am sure that the DPM, being a veteran politician himself, is fully aware that a rally is an important channel for the Opposition to communicate with the voters, given the fact that the media is going to cover more of the PAP than the Opposition. I would like to ask the DPM whether or not he is prepared to review the system to make it more civilised and more convenient, rather than getting the election agents or people to queue 24 hours overnight from Nomination Day till the end of nine days.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: The Police will look at all ways and means to make it easier and transparent for the people. At the same time, they must also be seen to be fair. Whether people queue for two hours, five hours or 24 hours, I think that is very much left to the initiative of the individuals.

Column No : 2001

MANUFACTURING SECTOR:

(Employment of diploma and degree holders): The following Question stood in the name of Mdm Ho Geok Choo-

21. To ask the Minister for Manpower, in view of Singapore's switch to high value added manufacturing industries (a) what is the percentage shift in the number of diploma and degree holders employed in this sector in 2004 and 2005 as compared to 1995; and (b) what is the trend in the labour productivity output in the manufacturing sector.

Mr Speaker: Mdm Ho Geok Choo is not here*.

• Pursuant to Standing Order No. 22(3), the answer is reproduced in the Appendix (Cols. 2107-2108).