Lim Tean highlights countries which have delayed elections amid pandemic

People’s Voice Activist Lim Tean has urged the PAP Government to follow the example of countries like Serbia and Sri Lanka, which have delayed their General Elections due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

People’s Voice founder Lim Tean on Friday (March 20) shared an article by Bloomberg regarding how Serbia decided to hold its Parliamentary Election at a later time due to the battle against the novel coronavirus and its negative effects on multiple aspects of society.

According to the article, though the Serbian election was originally set to be held on April 26, Serbia has recently declared a state of emergency, which entails the prohibition of collective activities. Not only has it banned all foreigners with the exception of Chinese citizens from entering its borders, but it has also closed schools and set limits to the operation hours of commercial areas such as restaurants. Aside from this, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic recently disclosed the possibility of implementing a curfew in order to ensure people’s cooperation with the Government in the collective battle against the virus.

“By doing so, it (Serbia) has joined other countries such as America, England and Sri-Lanka, where good sense and decency have prevailed,” noted Mr Lim, “and where the governments have not been willing to expose their citizens to the risks of infections, which will inevitably arise from any electoral process.” The activist then called out the current administration, urging it to follow suit. “PAP, learn!”

On Thursday (March 19), a day before his post about Serbia, Mr Lim also shared an article by the Tamil Guardian, which reported that Sri Lanka has also decided to hold its General Elections at a later time. According to the report, though Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had previously announced that the nation would continue with its election “as planned,” Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya recently announced otherwise, saying that given the Covid-19 situation, the GE would be delayed. “Coronavirus will decide when we can hold the election again,” he said. “We must eradicate this disease, I urge everyone to focus and support efforts to eradicate the virus.”

As in his post regarding Serbia, Mr Lim used Sri Lanka as an example for Singapore to follow. “All decent authorities and societies will think along the same lines,” he hinted, before singling out Singapore’s current administration, “but the PAP are of course giving all sorts of signals that the GE will be held when the Covid-19 crisis is still ongoing.”