Agence France Presse October 25, 2001 SINGAPORE Related: Opposition wages guerrilla war against ruling party Info on past elections Opposition hopeful of election 'breakthrough' A SINGAPORE opposition party was disqualified Oct 25 from contesting a multi-seat ward in the November 3 polls after submitting incomplete forms, dealing a further blow to its chances. "The nomination papers filed by the Workers' Party... were not in compliance with the Provisions of Parliamentary Elections Act," said a press statement from the elections department. Party officials told journalists they had forgotten to write down the electoral division in their statutory declarations of candidacy for the five-seat Aljunied ward, and the papers were rejected as a result. "It is an oversight on our part and as the party's secretary-general, I accept full responsibility for it," said Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) won a fresh five-year mandate without a vote being cast Oct 25 after it stood unopposed in two-thirds of the 84 seats up for grabs in next week's elections. The PAP would have been assured of a clear majority even without the Workers' Party team being disqualified in Aljunied. The Workers' Party is still contesting two single-seat constituencies. Low, one of only two opposition politicians to break the PAP's monopoly in the previous parliament, was quick to add that it was unfair to be disqualified over minute "technicalities". "We are not clerks, you know, professional administrators," he said, complaining that the electoral process was becoming increasingly complicated and had to be simplified to a one-stop procedure. "If the government is sincere about creating a democratic process, it should make the process less cumbersome," he said. Political activist James Gomez, who was part of the disqualified team, said candidates had not been briefed on the strict nomination guidelines. "When I visited the elections website, what I found was an absence of clear guidelines for candidates. There was a lot of material for voters," he said. He added that "the whole process of recourse was absent" and the government had to make the electoral process more "welcoming" if it indeed wanted it to move forward. The party said it had submitted a letter of appeal to the returning officer and was still awaiting a reply. |
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