The following is my answer to a Quora
question: “If
the PAP loses its grip on the legislature, would their leader try to flee like Malaysia’s Mohammed Najib bin Abdul Razak?”
In the unlikely event that the PAP were to
lose an election, and the ability to form the government, the former ministers
have no reason to run. People may
disagree with policy decisions and issues, but that is a far cry from
impropriety on the scale of Mohammed Najib bin Abdul Razak’s kleptocracy. They have only lost an electoral mandate, not
their integrity or credibility.
In fact, they have every incentive to
fight the next election. Whichever party
comes to power has a steep learning curve. At the moment, even a coalition of all the
Opposition parties do not have enough people of calibre to sit in the Cabinet. And those who have substance have some
credibility issues.
Secondly, we have to consider the fact
that the Opposition cannot get along among themselves. We would likely end up with a hung Parliament,
and one or more of those parties will approach the PAP to be a partner in a
coalition government. That is a backdoor
for the PAP to come back into power. Losing
an election is not the end of the world. And a new government has bigger issues than a
witch hunt based on personality clashes. That would affect their credibility, and
guarantee a loss in the very next election.
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