GE2020: Parties Given Sufficient Time Before Parliament Dissolved?

In a sudden national broadcast, PM Lee Hsien Loong announced on 23 June 4pm he had advised President Halimah Yacob to dissolve Parliament. He gave excuses why the GE2020 should be called before April 2021, citing reasons like Covid19 and the threat of external uncertainties. This paves way for GE2020 Polling Day to be on 10 July.

The PAP's rush to call for an early elections has generally been frowned upon because of the ongoing Covid19 pandemic. But even when signs of an early GE were clear back in May 2020, the PAP still resisted calls from opposition parties on clear election campaigning rules to be published promptly. Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing brushed away these calls by reassuring that the Elections Department (ELD) will issue its safe campaigning guidelines "with sufficient time for political parties and aspiring candidates to prepare."

The ELD eventually released some preliminary campaigning guidelines partially on 8 June and then some others on 18 June.

Given how political parties and candidates only had 5 days between 18 June and 23 June when Parliament is dissolved, it seems the PAP thinks that having a preparation time of less than a week is "sufficient". This logic appears ironic since the PAP has always complained about a lack of time before GE has to be called in so many months before April 2021.