SINGAPORE: Singapore will have to strengthen its cohesion and stay united in an increasingly multipolar and unpredictable world, said Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Friday (Jan 24).
Speaking at an event organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs’ (SIIA), Dr Balakrishnan said a lot of the pre-requisites for Singapore’s past success such as a liberal world order, global supply chains, peace in the region and a stable global balance of power have been severely eroded.
He added that around the world, inflation, inequality, immigration issues loom large.
“We are also witnessing, at a domestic political level all over the world, an erosion in trust, in domestic political systems and in international institutions,” said Dr Balakrishnan.
He pointed out that more than 60 countries held elections last year. Out of these elections, one quarter had resulted in a change in the ruling government, he said.
“Even in those where the incumbents came back, they witnessed a significant erosion in political support. So, many incumbents, including India, Japan, France, South Africa, lost significant vote share. Within the G7, there are new prime ministers in the UK, France, Japan, soon, Canada, and there will be elections in Germany in February,” he said.
“So, the point I’m making is that politics everywhere, in fact, is local. It is local citizens who vote, not international cosmopolitans, and we are living in a world, in which at the domestic level, there are deep anxieties about globalisation, multilateralism and free trade,” he added.
Turning to Singapore – which has begun its countdown to its next general election and saw the ruling People’s Action Party electing its new central executive committee last month – Dr Balakrishnan said that every time there’s a transition, there will be a test for the new leadership.
“We must expect the new leadership team to be probed, to be pushed, to be assessed. Does the new leadership team have the spine, the courage and the gumption of the past? The second test a new leadership has to pass is, does the new leadership have the support of the people?
“In the face of these challenges, both the leaders and the people have to rise and answer these fundamental questions.
“We’ll have to look out for each other, we’ll have to maintain unity, we’ll have to strengthen cohesion, we’ll have to retool, reskill, reboot our economy, and we will have to continue to make common cause,” he said.
