This is the SDP’s response to media queries about Mr Lee Hsien Loong’s proposal to increase the number of NCMPs:
The proposals by PM Lee serve only to distract the people from the real problems that plague elections in Singapore. A democratic election system requires a free media, freedom of speech and assembly, and a transparent electoral process. If the PAP is genuinely interested in a democratic system, it should take the following measures:
1. Amend the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act and the Broadcasting Act. The control of the media by the PAP is what has kept it in power all these decades.
2. Abolish the GRC system. The GRC system has enabled the PAP to draw constituency boundaries to its advantage.
3. Repeal the Public Order Act. The police stop the opposition from speaking and meeting freely with the people while PAP MPs have free access to the electorate.
4. Lengthen the campaign period. The election period should be lengthened to at least 3 weeks. The short campaign period makes it unnecessarily difficult for the opposition to mount a meaningful campaign.
5. Remove the Elections Department from the control of the PMO. A genuinely free and fair elections can come about only if there is an independent body to conduct and monitor elections
Source: Chee Soon Juan
