Nayar noted in his response that the programme’s host and several of his commentators called Singapore a “one-party state”, an “autocracy” and “verging now on a flawed democracy”.
“They portrayed Singapore’s group representation constituencies (GRCs) – introduced to guarantee minority representation in parliament – as a ‘tactic’, among other ‘roadblocks’, designed to obstruct the opposition,” Nayar said.
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It was hosted by Rear Vision presenter and journalist Antony Funnell and featured the following guests – assistant professor of politics and public administration at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Dr Stephan Ortmann; associate professor of international relations at Flinders University, Dr Michael Barr; senior research fellow in the governance and economy department of the National University of Singapore, Dr Gillian Koh; and senior fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, Joshua Kurlantzick.
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In its introduction, the episode notes that Singapore has never had a change of government in its 61 years of existence, also drawing attention to what it described as the leader of the opposition being “deposed”.