Thread by @kixes

When the ruling party in your effectively one-party state country sees its succession plan go up in smoke, you don't wait until the regular Saturday slot to send out your newsletter weekly wrap. Here we go with this week's #wethecitizens: wethecitizens.ghost.io/not-according-…

One thing I didn't add about Lawrence Wong was that he was the minister who talked about "culture wars" when asked about MOE's policy re: transgender students. That's one black mark against his name, although I'm not sure how many (esp. older) Singaporeans would make a note.

With HSK out of the running for the premiership, people are now going to be reading tea leaves and placing (real/figurative) bets on who’s up.

I argued in #wethecitizens that this isn’t the most important question for Singapore.

But that’s not to say this development isn’t a big deal for Singapore politics. @tcllee1972 points out in this thread how this is a significant departure from the previous leadership transitions:

https://twitter.com/tcllee1972/status/1380338199516434432

If the party that claims to be Singapore’s best and brightest is sliding (or already arrived) at mediocrity, this is bad news for Singaporeans.

If the party is not cohesive, and fraying with factional struggles, this is bad news for Singaporeans (at least in the short-term) too.

Our current political landscape is such that all our eggs are in the PAP basket. Opposition parties and civil society have been so repressed and suppressed that, despite efforts and promising growth, there are still few alternative institutions to the PAP machinery.

This, to me, is the problem. It's not about *who* is going to succeed; it's about what this sputtering transition tells us about the dominant party. While it's not the job of SGeans to prop up the PAP, in the short-term we're not well-prepared to deal w/ them becoming damn rabak

What I fear is that, while this struggle is ongoing, and no matter who emerges on top, we might see continued/more tightening of space and clampdowns on dissent. The PAP is not known for respecting civil liberties and space for expression. A very insecure PAP... well.

With the PAP fraying, what we need is the ability to build up alternatives, both in terms of viable political parties and civil society organisations. But with the PAP fraying yet determined to maintain its grip, the space to do this might shrink further. This is what worries me.