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Tag: Democratic Progressive Party

  • Joint DPP-SPP Team To Contest Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Under DPP Banner

    Joint DPP-SPP Team To Contest Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Under DPP Banner

    The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have finally unveiled the final five members of their joint team for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, more than three weeks after the two parties agreed to partner up to contest the constituency.

    They are DPP chief Benjamin Pwee, 47, and chairman Hamim Aliyas, 55, who have both resigned from the party and joined the SPP to enable them to be fielded. Their teammates are SPP members Law Kim Hwee, 55, a former marketing manager, training company manager Abdillah Zamzuri, 31, and tech entrepreneur Bryan Long, 37.

    Election rules dictate that all candidates in a GRC team must either come from one party or consist of five independents. Both SPP and DPP had earlier agreed that they would contest under the SPP banner.

    The confirmed line-up was introduced by SPP chairman and Non-constituency MP Lina Chiam following a walkabout at Toa Payoh Lorong 8 on Sunday (Aug 30) morning.

    While the three SPP members are election first-timers, Mr Pwee and Mr Hamim were in 2011 part of an SPP team led by opposition veteran Chiam See Tong that scored 43.1 per cent of the vote against a PAP team led by Dr Ng Eng Hen.

    Mr Chiam’s exclusion from the current line-up is a strong signal that he has retired from politics. But the veteran opposition leader, who held Potong Pasir SMC for 27 years, was also present to give the joint team his backing.

    Sunday’s introduction came one day after both parties signed an agreement to formalise their joint team, finalising their paperwork just three days before Nomination Day.

    The signing of the agreement brings to a close a difficult, month-long negotiation that began at the joint opposition meeting to decide who would contest in which constituency. At several points in recent weeks, there had been rumours that the partnership was on the brink of collapse, especially due to disagreements on the make-up of the team.

    Both sides had said on Saturday that they needed to take time to sort out a broad range of issues.

    “It is a deliberated decision. We took time to make sure this isn’t something we hastily go in to just for elections. We went into it, we went through every single point. We had to know that logistics work, finance works, we want to know candidates, we want to talk about decision-making – if anything this demonstrates the maturity of the cooperation,” said Mr Long.

    Added Mr Pwee on behalf of the DPP: “I think we respected the time and space that they need to make the decision. I think we didn’t want to push it and run the risk of this partnership breaking. At the end of the day, there could be nothing worse than if this partnership broke and we went into a three-cornered fight together.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • DPP Chief Benjamin Pwee: Leaked Bishan-Toa Payoh Poster ‘One Of Many Drafts’

    DPP Chief Benjamin Pwee: Leaked Bishan-Toa Payoh Poster ‘One Of Many Drafts’

    A mock-up of an election poster for the joint opposition team standing in Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency (GRC) has prompted talk that the line-up for the ward has finally been confirmed, but Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chief Benjamin Pwee on Thursday (Aug 27) maintained that a final decision has yet to be made.

    The poster circulating features two DPP members — Mr Pwee and party chairman Mohamad Hamim Aliyas — and three Singapore People’s Party (SPP) members, Mr Law Kim Hwee, Mr Abdillah Zamzuri and Mr Bryan Long. The SPP logo was also on the poster along with the tagline, “We hear You. We speak for You”.

    The three SPP members are new to politics, while Mr Pwee and Mr Hamim contested in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in the 2011 General Election under the SPP umbrella.

    Responding to queries from TODAY, Mr Pwee said: “We have many, many different draft posters with different combinations of candidates because SPP hasn’t confirmed their candidates for the five-man team. We will leave it to SPP to officially announce the five-man team under the SPP banner on Nomination Day.”

    Asked if the parties agreed on the slate at the Elections Department on Thursday, SPP chairman Lina Chiam said the team has been formed, but declined to elaborate.

    “The team will be as strong, if not stronger than the previous one,” she said, referring to the team SPP fielded for the General Election in 2011.

    The two parties had agreed to jointly contest the five-member GRC under the SPP banner after each party initially indicated an interest to field their own teams, potentially setting up a three-cornered fight.

    Mr Pwee has been introducing potential candidates for the team, while the two parties have put out conflicting messages about the make-up of the combined slate at separate walkabouts they held. Mrs Chiam has expressed preference that the SPP holds three of the five spots on the team, while Mr Pwee has said the best five should fill the positions.

    Mr Pwee was part of SPP chief Chiam See Tong’s team in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in 2011, but left the party one year later with Mr Hamim. The team took 43.07 per cent of the votes in 2011.

    The DPP-SPP team will go up against the People’s Action Party’s team made up of incumbents Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and Senior Minister of State for Transport and Finance Josephine Teo, and new faces Mr Chee Hong Tat, Mr Chong Kee Hiong and Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

    Nomination Day is on Sep 1.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • DPP’s Chia Ser Lin: I Will Give Up My Business In China To Become Full-Time MP If Elected

    DPP’s Chia Ser Lin: I Will Give Up My Business In China To Become Full-Time MP If Elected

    A potential new Opposition candidate at the coming General Election said he will give up his corporate career, which sees him shuttling in and out of China, to be a full-time MP if elected.

    Mr Chia Ser Lin, 46, was introduced by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) during a Bishan-Toa Payoh walkabout on Tuesday evening (Aug 11). He runs a chain of F&B companies in China, where he is based, and returns to Singapore once a month to his wife and two kids in Toa Payoh, where he said he has lived all his life.

    “He is one of the anchor persons in our team to compete in Bishan-Toa Payoh and run the town council if we win,” said DPP secretary-general Benjamin Pwee, who described Mr Chia as someone who “feels for and understands local municipal issues in Toa Payoh very keenly”.

    Mr Chia gave the example of what he said were dirty monsoon drains and possible mosquito breeding grounds – a dengue fever threat – in the neighbourhood were not attended to by the Town Council, which he said deflected queries to the National Environment Agency instead.

    “There have been persistent issues like this over the last five years. You write to MPs and you don’t really get a response from them,” he said, calling it “a disconnect on the ground”.

    In a separate, earlier interview with Channel NewsAsia, Mr Pwee said the DPP “has been with Bishan-Toa Payoh residents since the last GE till now, and knows the issues on the ground … that have not been dealt with by the current team”.

    THE CHINESE CHALLENGE

    The Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency is held by the People’s Action Party, which on Wednesday announced the retirement of three MPs from the current GRC Team, including former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng. The PAP also unveiled their replacements.

    This new-look PAP team will square off at the coming General Election against an Opposition partnership made up of DPP and Singapore People’s Party members in Bishan-Toa Payoh.

    With DPP not laying claim to any Single Member Constituency, Mr Chia, Mr Pwee and party chairman Hamim Aliyas are in the running for this joint team, whose final five-man lineup will be jointly decided by SPP and DPP leaders by the end of the week.

    When asked why he wanted to run in the GE, Mr Chia said “it felt important to stand up, take a stand and support Ben against the idea of one-party rule”.

    “It’s important there are certain checks and balances in the system,” he added.

    A former schoolmate and fellow scout with Mr Pwee at Raffles Institution, Mr Chia said issues such as overcrowding and the job market concerned him. Also close to heart for the China-based executive was the issue of Singapore’s prospects over the next five to 10 years, in the face of competition from the “more aggressive” China market.

    “We are all too protected in many ways. I’ve worked in China for so many years, I know what they’re up to and I’m very worried,” said Mr Chia, who has managed the China-based operations of multi-national corporations including Coca-Cola, OSIM and Asia Pacific Breweries for nearly two decades.

    Asked if being based overseas would prove a problem during his campaign, Mr Chia said: “If Ben decides I should join him, if he wins the GRC, then it should be a full-time thing. I don’t believe in part-time MPs drawing allowance and having a full-time job and holding meet-the-people sessions once a month. I think that’s not the way.”

     

    Soure: www.channelnewsasia.com