Workers’ Party Says Presidential Candidate Criteria Skewed Towards PAP-Approved People, Won’t Endorse Anyone

Workers’ Party Says It Won’t Endorse Any Presidential Candidate

As the PE2023 campaigning period reaches its final leg, much has been said about the election being politicised.

Discussions on the topic became more heated after Progress Singapore Party (PSP) founder Mr Tan Cheng Bock announced his endorsement of Mr Tan Kin Lian’s presidential bid.

PSP has since clarified that the party doesn’t endorse any presidential candidate.

The same goes for the Workers’ Party (WP) which has just put out a statement regarding the party’s stance on the Presidential Election.

WP asserted that it does not endorse any presidential candidate.

Workers’ Party does not endorse any candidates because it thinks current system should be abolished

In a media advisory on Wednesday (30 Aug), the WP announced that it has received queries from various mainstream media outlets on this matter.

The party stated that the current qualifying criteria for presidential candidates is “skewed towards PAP-approved candidates”.

Source: Workers’ Party on Facebook

WP noted that the elected presidency in its current form undermines parliamentary democracy. The advisory reads:

“It also serves as an unnecessary source of gridlock – one that could potentially cripple a non-PAP government within its first term – and is an alternative power centre that could lead to political impasses.”

WP then went on to highlight that it has consistently voiced its objection to the elected presidency. In fact, the party has believed for over 30 years that Singapore should abolish it and revert to a ceremonial presidency.

Finally, the statement made clear that WP does not endorse any presidential candidate. In addition, it does not call upon members or volunteers to assist the candidates in any official capacity.

Tan Cheng Bock & Chee Soon Juan back Tan Kin Lian

This follows Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) announcement that it does not endorse any presidential candidate.

PSP provided the clarification after founder Dr Tan Cheng Bock, in his personal capacity, endorsed Mr Tan Kin Lian.

Members of the party apparently also received emails asking them to sign up as counting agents for the latter.

The same day as WP’s statement, Dr Chee Soon Juan also shared that he will be supporting Mr Tan on Polling Day.

Despite acknowledging that Mr Tan has his flaws, the Singapore Democratic Party leader said that the candidate is “a good man”.

Dr Chee also expressed his concern about voting for the other two candidates. He claims that Mr Ng Kok Song and Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam are “but two different shades of grey.”

As such, he thinks that as imperfect as Mr Tan is, he is the best choice to “start the arduous but exciting process of building democracy for our nation”.

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Featured image adapted from Workers’ Party on Facebook.