Having been a member of the People’s Action Party (PAP) for more than two decades, it’s understandably hard for Singaporeans to disassociate Senior Minister (SM) Tharman from the ruling party and its interests.
Speaking about his counterpart’s recent bid to become President, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam suggested that the PAP has no part to play in the fact that the 66-year-old is a strong presidential candidate.
Source: Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Singapore on YouTube
The minister added that Mr Tharman is nobody’s patsy and that he makes his own decision.
Speaking at the Institute of Policy Studies’ (IPS) 35th Anniversary Conference on Monday (12 June), Mr Shanmugam briefly touched on Mr Tharman’s intention to contest the upcoming presidential election.
The minister was responding to a suggestion that Mr Tharman’s bid was an indication that the PAP was aiming for less political pluralism.
To this, he said that Mr Tharman is nobody’s patsy and that he’s standing for President on his own accord.
He also described the potential presidential candidate as someone who “makes up his mind”.
Acknowledging that Mr Tharman is a “strong candidate”, Mr Shanmugam stressed that the PAP isn’t the reason for his popularity.
Source: Ecosperity on Facebook
He then painted a hypothetical scenario of the Prime Minister standing in a presidential election. In such a situation, he asked if the PAP would have to apologise for “putting up such a strong candidate”.
Summing up the brief segment, Mr Shanmugam said that while there are some things that are “properly laid at our doors”, it’s unfair to hold the Government accountable for other matters.
He ended by urging other “strong candidates” in Singapore to step forward to contest the upcoming presidential elections.
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Featured image adapted from Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Singapore on YouTube and Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Facebook.
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