Daily Briefing: Ruling party suffers weakest performance in 55 years; RTS Link project discussions can be concluded by 31 July

And Facebook removes critical spectator admin accounts for violating policies.

From Bloomberg:

Singapore’s ruling party retained a firm grip on power but suffered its weakest performance in 55 years in office, with the economy badly hit by the pandemic. The result could shake up politics in the city-state, leading to more populist policies, according to a report.

The opposition Workers’ Party won a record 10 seats and secured two group representation constituencies. The ruling party won 83 seats or 89% of those up for grabs, according to an official count by the Elections Department. That allows it to amend the constitution, pass laws and set policies without major obstacles.

Even so, it’s a setback for the People’s Action Party, which has always won at least 93% of parliamentary seats since Singapore became an independent nation in 1965. The result could potentially disrupt Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s succession plan. It may also spur the government to adopt more reactive policies as it did in the wake of the 2011 election, when the opposition tripled its seats to six.

“It is not as strong a mandate as I’d hoped for, but it’s a good mandate,” Lee said in a media briefing early Saturday. “The results reflect the pain and uncertainty that Singaporeans feel in this crisis.”

Read more here. 

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Singapore is optimistic that discussions on the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project can be concluded by the deadline at the end of this month, said the Ministry of Transport (MOT).

MOT said that Malaysia and Singapore have been in "intensive discussions" on the Johor Bahru-Singapore RTS Link project.

The RTS Link was meant to be completed in 2024, but work on the project has since been suspended.

The suspension has been extended three times at Malaysia's request, with the latest extension due to Singapore's COVID-19 circuit breaker measures and Malaysia's movement control order.

The RTS Link aims to connect Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands in Singapore, serving about 10,000 passengers per hour each way to help ease traffic congestion on the Causeway.

Read more here. 

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Facebook has removed the user accounts of those administering the Critical Spectator page for violating the company's policies.

“We have taken action on several accounts and pages in Singapore for violating our policies. This is based on the violating behaviour of these accounts and pages, and not based on the content they posted," said a Facebook spokesperson.

The Critical Spectator Facebook page is believed to be run by Polish national Michael Petraeus, who also runs a commentary blog with the same name. The Facebook page had more than 17,000 likes before it was removed.

Commentary provided on the page had generally focused on regional and local politics, and has been seen to take a pro-Singapore Government position.

The removal of the admin accounts comes after The Online Citizen editor Terry Xu announced that he had made a police report against the Critical Spectator "over the posts made in relation to the ongoing General Election". 

Read more here.