Insight on Opps

[sinren67]

How i wish this is what going to be after the Polling Day - which RP occupied half of Sg and NIL for PAP.

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[sinren67]

Nov 20, 2010
Is the opposition READY TO ROCK?

As the General Election nears, Insight takes a party-by-party look at the state of the opposition. Have the various parties been making the rounds? Do they have enough candidates? Are they ready to go into battle with the ruling party? Kor Kian Beng, Zakir Hussain, Tessa Wong and Andrea Ong report.

SOME operate like stealth fighter planes, preparing for electoral battle while flying under the radar.

Others are like cavalry troops, declaring their intentions openly as they charge into People's Action Party-occupied territories.

The various opposition parties may have adopted different strategies but they seem to be heading towards a common goal: to contest as many seats as possible in the coming elections.

Based on what opposition leaders and sources tell Insight, they look like they are gearing up for the biggest electoral fight since 1988 when the opposition contested 70 out of the 81 seats.

The Workers' Party (WP), National Solidarity Party (NSP) and Reform Party (RP) are aiming to field at least 20 candidates each for the upcoming polls.

The Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), a grouping of three opposition parties led by Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong, plans to put up at least eight candidates. This is assuming the alliance, now riven by infighting between Mr Chiam and his former protege Desmond Lim, stays intact.

Up to 10 candidates can be expected from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the newly minted Socialist Front.

What all this means is that the opposition is eyeing or working the ground in all 14 GRCs and nine SMCs totalling 84 seats for the general election which is due by February 2012.

Of course, their battle plans hinge on whether the parties will have enough finances for electoral deposits and the campaigns to contest so many seats.

They are also based on the current electoral map, which will be redrawn when the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee publishes its report. The recent electoral amendments will pave the way for at least 12 SMCs and fewer six-member GRCs in the next polls.

Any boundary changes, however, should not dampen the intense interest of the opposition parties. Those eyeing or working in the current wards are likely to stake their claims on any new SMCs or GRCs that will be carved out.

If two or more parties have their sights on the same ward, expect the usual electoral talks and horse trading to avoid three-cornered fights.

An all-out blitz at the next polls means the opposition is abandoning the by-election strategy used in previous elections. Under this strategy, the ruling party is returned to power on Nomination Day so that voters will feel free to vote for the opposition without risking the fall of the PAP Government.

Another aim is to pin PAP heavyweights down in their own wards so that they have less time to campaign for fellow candidates in other wards.

Yet another factor behind the move by the opposition parties to cover all bases could be to maximise their chances of winning in the light of the new electoral changes.

Opposition candidates will have more chances to enter Parliament, following amendments to the Constitution to guarantee a minimum of nine opposition MPs, whether elected or via the Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) scheme.

As NSP secretary-general Goh Meng Seng notes, the expanded NCMP scheme helps the party as more potential candidates will be willing to stand in the next polls, as they see the NCMP post as a step towards getting elected in future.

Political commentator Alex Au says that by 'just shooting at more targets', an opposition party will have a higher chance of chalking an unexpected win or two. But the risk of a three-cornered fight, which tends to split the opposition vote, is also higher, he cautions.

At the end of the day, the big question is: The opposition parties may have the numbers to contest all seats but do they have enough quality candidates to rake in the votes and improve on their showing at the 2006 polls?

The PAP's vote share at that election was 66.6 per cent, a drop from 75.3 per cent at the 2001 polls, which was held in a year dogged by terrorism and recession. It was the best opposition showing, in terms of vote share, since 1997.

Pundits think the answer is a probable yes, given the stable of new faces unearthed by RP and SDP. They include social work advocate Vincent Wijeysingha from SDP, and former government scholars Tony Tan Lay Thiam and his wife Hazel Poa from RP.

If WP's line-up in the last elections is any guide, it will unveil yet another crop of well-educated candidates.

But whether the newcomers will have the gumption to survive the electoral campaign and the perseverance to stay in opposition politics if they lose the next polls is anybody's guess.

Associate Professor Hussin Mutalib of the National University of Singapore's political science department says the quality of opposition candidates will be a key factor deciding the next GE's outcome.

Much will, of course, depend on how the issues are fought between the opposition parties and the PAP at the hustings and how they resonate with the voters.

Expect immigration, housing, cost of living and health care to be among the top issues that the opposition will be campaigning on, based on the manifestos that have been released or are being worked on now.

But also expect, as previous elections have shown, the unexpected.

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[sinren67]

Fighting from the centre

WORKERS' PARTY

YEAR FORMED: 1957

LEADER: Secretary-general Low Thia Khiang, 54, businessman

MANIFESTO: Being revised, expected to be out early next year

KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: To be finalised when GE is called

WHEN asked about their state of preparedness, the leaders of the oldest and best-known major opposition party give the same answer as the ruling party: We have been preparing since the last election.

Workers' Party (WP) activists have been going on house visits in the north, north-east and eastern parts of the island one to two nights a week and selling the party newsletter, The Hammer, at town and neighbourhood centres on weekends.

The party's manifesto is now being revised. Expected to be released early next year, it will cover its policy proposals for the economy, education, health care, public housing and public transport.

WP has built up a network of supporters in the areas it plans to contest, says party treasurer Eric Tan, who heads its Eastern Area Committee which looks after East Coast GRC and Joo Chiat SMC.

Its ground activities are coordinated by area committees: The North-east Area Committee works in Aljunied GRC and WP-held Hougang SMC, and the Northern Area Committee covers the Nee Soon East and Nee Soon Central SMCs and Ang Mo Kio and Sembawang GRCs.

It helps that the party's public image has been boosted by the presence in Parliament of Mr Low Thia Khiang, the MP for Hougang, and Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim.

As Ms Lim, the party chairman, tells Insight: 'I find people are more forthcoming than when I visited them previously. Maybe their personal circumstances have changed, and they are more familiar with us, so they open up.'

The party declines to reveal the number of candidates it intends to field in the next GE. What is known is that it has recruited a number of young and middle- aged professionals, including members of the minorities.

For a clue, recall its line-up of 20 candidates in the 2006 polls: Half of them were under 40 and three-quarters were graduates. They were said to be backed by a core of 200 helpers and supporters.

However, its strict - and some say People's Action Party-like - emphasis on party discipline has seen five of these candidates leaving for other parties since 2006.

Political observer Derek da Cunha expects WP to secure the largest percentage of votes against the PAP, given the party's history, relatively strong ground presence among opposition parties, and the popularity of Mr Low.

It clinched an average of 38.4 per cent of the votes in the wards it contested in 2006.

He notes that WP 'tended to attract a sizeable proportion of votes from the Chinese-educated and Chinese-speaking segment of the electorate'.

'Moreover, since the 1997 General Election, the WP has tended to fight elections from the political centre. That has enhanced its electoral appeal,' he says.

Political commentator Alex Au believes the election may be a litmus test for the WP, which 'wants to look young, but actually talks old'.

'It has invested years in party discipline, old-style door-to-door visits, careful selectivity in what it talks about and projecting a conservative image,' he says.

Although it will be hard for the party to gain a wider victory, he thinks that it probably has enough of a base to secure several NCMP places.


Alliance divided

SINGAPORE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE

YEAR FORMED: 2001

LEADER: Chairman Chiam See Tong, 75, retired lawyer

MANIFESTO: Yet to be unveiled

KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: Yet to be defined

ITS calling is to unite the opposition but what voters read in the newspapers about the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) these days is the disunity.

Instead of being wooed for their support, they are left befuddled by the almost absent preparation by the grouping of three opposition parties.

Walkabouts are infrequent, recruitment of new candidates is little known, and its manifesto for the election is in limbo.

The SDA comprises the Singapore People's Party (SPP), Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) and Singapore Justice Party (SJP).

An impasse has ensued between two factions led by Potong Pasir MP and SPP leader Chiam See Tong, 75, and his former protege Desmond Lim, 42, who has the backing of SDA's two other member parties.

Both sides are in dispute over whether Mr Lim should be removed as SDA's secretary-general and Mr Chiam's plan to rope the Reform Party (RP) into the alliance. No matter how the infighting pans out, it would almost certainly dent the winning chances of the SDA and affect the standing of the two protagonists. The public spats give the impression that Mr Chiam has difficulty once again in keeping his house in order.

In 1993, he stepped down as leader of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) following differences with the leadership and his former protege, Dr Chee Soon Juan. Mr Chiam joined SPP in 1996.

Although both factions in SDA say they are preparing for the election, they seem to be operating on different wavelengths.

SPP's first assistant secretary-general Wilfred Leung says the party is preparing its own manifesto, which will be unveiled with the launch of its revamped website by the year's end.

Mr Chiam did not respond to queries by Insight about SDA's election plans, although they are well known.

He wants to vacate the Potong Pasir ward and let his wife Lina contest. Mr Chiam wants to form a team with Reform Party's Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam to contest in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

So, if the SDA imbroglio remains unresolved, chances are Mr Chiam may pull SPP out and join forces with RP. Or he may join RP as an individual member.

SPP chairman Sin Kek Tong is gunning for the Chua Chu Kang single-member constituency (SMC) or the Braddell Heights ward if it is carved out of Marine Parade GRC.

Mr Lim says the SDA is concentrating its efforts in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, where he led an SDA team in the 2006 polls.

SDA assistant secretary-general Mohd Nazem Suki, who is from PKMS, says the Malay-based party is considering other wards such as Marine Parade GRC and Joo Chiat SMC.

PKMS resolved its internal squabble between two competing factions earlier this year. Referring to the infighting, Mr Nazem says: 'It won't affect our chances with the voters. The infighting will be settled amicably.'

 

[sinren67]

Rebranding the SDP

SINGAPORE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

YEAR FORMED: 1980

LEADER: Secretary-general Chee Soon Juan, 48

MANIFESTO: Economic proposals launched last Saturday

KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: Creating a fairer society, curbing the influx of foreign workers and increasing health-care spending

MR NEW Junwei, 27, used to have an unsavoury impression of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).

'They seemed fierce, and were always getting into trouble,' says the sales executive, referring to the convictions imposed on SDP leaders for staging illegal protests, and the libel suits that SDP chief Chee Soon Juan lost to government leaders.

Then he attended a political rally staged by the party last Saturday - and he had a change of perception.

He says he was surprised by the carnival-like atmosphere, replete with a rock band and a teddy bear mascot, and the unveiling of the party's economic proposals from its manifesto.

'Now the SDP seems a bit more respectable, even constructive,' admits Mr New.

This is the new image that the SDP wants to foster among voters ahead of the next polls, through a recent raft of measures.

By launching the economic segment of its election manifesto, SDP is seeking to show that it is not all sound and no substance. Titled It's About You, the proposals include calling for a minimum wage to help low-wage workers cope with costs of living.

Dr Chee tells Insight that the party is recruiting 'people of substance' as members and potential candidates for the next polls. They include former Workers' Party candidate James Gomez, 45, a public relations academic based in Melbourne, and Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, 40, executive director of migrant workers' rights group TWC2.

Another image-changing tactic is the use of mascot Danny the Democracy Bear for its walkabouts.

But even as it tries to soften its image, the party is still grappling with the consequences of its strident activism. The party, Dr Chee and his sister Chee Siok Chin, a central executive committee member, still owe $610,000 in damages to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew for defaming them in an SDP newsletter article during the 2006 polls.

As bankrupts, the Chees and party chairman Gandhi Ambalam are barred from contesting in the next election. If the party is unable to pay up, it could be wound up.

The party's uncertain fate is believed to be the key reason SDP supporters set up a new party called United Singapore Democrats earlier this year. It is seen as an alternative vehicle for the SDP to contest the polls should it be shut down.

Meanwhile, SDP is continuing with its online efforts to engage young, tech-savvy voters through the party website and social media platforms.

It is stepping up its walkabouts in Bukit Panjang - the only ward that the SDP has openly declared its intention to contest. Sources say it is also eyeing the five-member Tampines GRC.

Independent political analyst Derek da Cunha says the SDP's style of personalising political issues would appeal to only a small section of the electorate. 'Most voters feel national issues are too important to be personalised,' he notes.


The 'moderate voice'

NATIONAL SOLIDARITY PARTY

YEAR FORMED: 1987

LEADERS: Chairman Sebastian Teo, 61, and secretary-general Goh Meng Seng, 40, both businessmen

MANIFESTO: Being finalised

KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: Making public housing more affordable and available, widening health-care insurance coverage, increasing supply of hospital beds

A 'MODERATE' opposition - that is how the party describes itself.

It will woo voters by projecting the image of an opposition party taking moderate views on national policy issues and communicating in a moderately vocal way, says its secretary-general Goh Meng Seng.

'We are vocal but not aggressive, rational yet not extremist. We focus only on policy issues that matter to Singaporeans, and not certain ideals, like human rights, which they may find to be quite remote,' he explains.

The National Solidarity Party (NSP) is preparing to field at least 20 and up to 30 candidates. It is gunning for four group representation constituencies (Tampines, Jalan Besar, Jurong and Marine Parade) and three single-member constituencies (MacPherson, Yio Chu Kang and Nee Soon Central).

Declining to reveal how big the party is, Mr Goh would say only that it is now in a stronger position than when it was part of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) from 2001 to 2007.

'We had to start from scratch because the party had not contested on its own platform for two elections. But we have progressed tremendously over these four years,' he says.

Mr Goh notes that the party has taken pains to shed its image as a party of Chinese towkays (businessmen in Hokkien), and that it now has around five women and 10 non-Chinese members.

NSP set up a Malay Bureau two months ago to focus on Malay issues and attract Malay candidates.

Election preparations have been ramped up, with the party now conducting once-weekly walkabouts. New party apparel and flags are ready, and so is a new slogan titled Your Voice, Your Choice.

Now in the final stage, its manifesto will focus on issues such as making public housing and health care more affordable for Singaporeans.

Summing up the party's progress since leaving SDA in 2007, Mr Goh says: 'People recognise us in our familiar grounds, and we now engage actively in public discourse on national issues. We're not a party that's dormant until election time.'

Will the party's 'moderate' stance pay off? It could, notes political observer Derek da Cunha, as he believes most Singaporeans are attracted to moderate opposition parties. But he feels that NSP is perceived to be 'unable, or unwilling, to throw any significant intellectual punches'.

Mr Goh's swift retort: 'We may speak the language of the masses but it doesn't mean that we are not intellectual. We don't want to be seen as elitist. It's a deliberate effort to be down to earth.'

 

[sinren67]

First off the blocks

REFORM PARTY

YEAR FORMED: 2008

LEADER: Secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam, 51, former hedge fund manager

MANIFESTO: Draft containing 19 policy pledges released in August

KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: Minimum wage for low-wage workers, reduction in goods and services tax

IT MAY be a two-year-old political toddler but it is the first off the blocks.

In May, it became the first opposition party to unveil six potential candidates, including secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam, 51.

In August, it was the first to put a draft version of its election manifesto on its website. It contains the party's 19 policy pledges on issues such as measures to help low-wage workers.

The party engages netizens in cyberspace. It holds three walkabouts to woo voters, and an open house to recruit potential members every week. Its women's wing is planning a wine and cheese tasting event next Saturday to raise funds for electoral battles.

Mr Jeyaretnam, who joined the party in March last year, says it has recruited nearly 100 members and 80 volunteers. At least 20 candidates will be fielded in at least four GRCs and two single-seat wards.

They include the Tanjong Pagar, Holland-Bukit Timah, Hong Kah and West Coast GRCs, and the Chua Chu Kang single-seat ward, plus a newly created single-seat ward in the next elections.

The party is also in talks with opposition veteran Chiam See Tong's Singapore People's Party to contest jointly in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

But not all is rosy within the party founded by the late Workers' Party chief J.B. Jeyaretnam, also known as JBJ. Two key leaders quit recently.

Mr Abdul Rahim Osman, 53, resigned in July, two months after he was presented as a potential candidate. He had contested in the 1997 and 2001 polls for the Workers' Party and the Singapore Democratic Alliance respectively. He says he quit because of disagreement with the party's calls for the abolition of the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the mandatory death penalty.

Mr Edmund Ng, 37, a National Solidarity Party candidate in the 2006 polls, left to focus on his Internet search engine business.

His chairman post has gone to Mr Tan Tee Seng, 52, who was among 16 Singaporeans held under the ISA in 1987, over a Marxist conspiracy.

Mr Jeyaretnam, JBJ's elder son, plays down the lack of experienced candidates. 'It may not be a negative thing. Voters will view us as a party with new faces, instead of how some might view opposition negatively in the past,' he says.

What the party has in its favour is its highly educated members. Mr Jeyaretnam is a double-first economics graduate from Cambridge University, and central executive committee member Tony Tan and his wife Hazel Poa are former government scholarship holders who now run a chain of tuition centres.



Rookie in the field

SOCIALIST FRONT

YEAR FORMED: September 2010

LEADERS: Chairman Ng Teck Siong, 69, businessman, and secretary-general Chia Ti Lik, 36, lawyer

MANIFESTO: Being drafted

KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: To set economic and political policies for the good of the common people

AT ITS coming-out party two months ago, the Socialist Front (SF) announced its aim of forming a future socialist government. Today, Singapore's newest political party still does not know where it will contest in the coming polls.

SF chairman Ng Teck Siong, 69, says it wants to fight in at least two single-member constituencies, with the candidates likely to be himself and secretary-general Chia Ti Lik. But he admits the party will have to wait for 'leftovers' from the bigger opposition parties after they have divided up the electoral wards among themselves.

He acknowledges that his party, with about 15 members now, will have difficulty mounting a sizeable campaign and making any impact. The lack of experienced candidates is another factor.

Eight of the 11 central executive committee members are political rookies. Only Mr Ng, Mr Chia and treasurer Mansor Rahman, 59, have electoral experience.

Mr Chia represented the Workers' Party (WP) in the 2006 polls while Mr Mansor stood for the Singapore United Front in Geylang Serai in 1984. Mr Ng, a former member of the Reform Party, WP and Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), was part of the WP team fielded in West Coast GRC in the 1997 polls.

The party is not conducting walkabouts or home visits, but it plans to hold monthly forums and launch its website soon. Since its inception, SF has been in talks with SDP and the National Solidarity Party on how to fight in the coming elections.

 

[Teo Kok Eng]

It is a shame that the high profile SDP after all the rallies and fanfare is only shown on only two tiny patches in the map.

 

[GoldenDragon]

It is a shame that the high profile SDP after all the rallies and fanfare is only shown on only two tiny patches in the map.

It is a Slowly Disappearing Party, so please understand why.

 

[Ramseth]

It is a shame that the high profile SDP after all the rallies and fanfare is only shown on only two tiny patches in the map.

What rally? What profile? All I've heard is a few old pop songs.

Politically, what? Pro-free speech and demonstration? Anti-death penalty?

Understand what's democracy all about. It's about what the majority want and don't want.

The majority neither want nor need free speech or demonstration to discrupt their social and economic lives.

The majority want death penalty for those rascals who chop up people and traffick drugs.

Want to teach people to change their mindsets? Set up a philosophical school instead of a political party.

Want to be rockstars? Form a band.

 

[Dreamer1]

It is a Slowly Disappearing Party, so please understand why.

My feeling is that more young voters are with Dr Chee than the others.

Of course my personal pick is RP if I were to choose,but does not really matter so long as it is against PAP
They need to b taught a lesson FAST!

ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY!

 

[cleareyes]

My feeling is that more young voters are with Dr Chee than the others.

You are so wrong.

When you say "young people", how old are you refering to? what age range?

For all I have come across, working adults wont even talk about Chee and SDP. As for teenagers, they dont even care.

 

[Dreamer1]

You are so wrong.

When you say "young people", how old are you refering to? what age range?

For all I have come across, working adults wont even talk about Chee and SDP. As for teenagers, they dont even care.

Yes,frankly since I have been here ,I can sense roughly where you are heading,no surprise

For me,so long as it is agaist PAP,they get my votes(two -plus my wife)

Agree to disagree

Cheers

 

[lovesamleong]

How i wish this is what going to be after the Polling Day - which RP occupied half of Sg and NIL for PAP.

What happened to the image, Sinren? Can post again? It is a good pic on where the oppie stands.

 

[sinren67]

What happened to the image, Sinren? Can post again? It is a good pic on where the oppie stands.

I duno why it's removed..

<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2zrm79t" target="_blank"><img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/2zrm79t.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

 

[fivestars]

Wp (4 smc+4grc) + sda (3 smc+1 grc) + sdp&usd (1 smc+1 grc) + nsp (4grc+3smc) + rp (4 grc+1 smc) + sf (1 grc)

 

[cleareyes]

Yes,frankly since I have been here ,I can sense roughly where you are heading,no surprise

For me,so long as it is agaist PAP,they get my votes(two -plus my wife)

Agree to disagree

Cheers

Looks like You are pretty new, so i shall not push you too far.

many of the old timers here, including me, would know why are there such negative feelings towards SDp and how trhey have conducted themselves and treated other oppotions with contempt.

Its nolonger about just pushing PAP aside, its about pushing PAP aside and not get sabotaged in the process.

Stay around ad you would understand why.

 

[cleareyes]

I duno why it's removed..

<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2zrm79t" target="_blank"><img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/2zrm79t.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

I m getting very curious here, why or how it seems that SDP would be contesting in tampines GRC? I notice that tampines GRC is split into 2 and shared between SDP and NSP.

So how did that idea come about? When did SDP declare their intent and activity to go for Tampines GRC?

Is this an attempt by SDP to spilt opposition votes and hand victory back to MBT and PAP?

 

[sinren67]

I m getting very curious here, why or how it seems that SDP would be contesting in tampines GRC? I notice that tampines GRC is split into 2 and shared between SDP and NSP.

So how did that idea come about? When did SDP declare their intent and activity to go for Tampines GRC?

Is this an attempt by SDP to spilt opposition votes and hand victory back to MBT and PAP?

I think 154th's intention is merely indicate to the readers that SDP and NSP are interested in Tampines which is why they put in diff color, just like Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.