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  • Opposition Parties Optimistic Issues Will Be Resolved By Thursday

    Opposition Parties Optimistic Issues Will Be Resolved By Thursday

    Opposition parties said they made progress in avoiding three-cornered fights at a meeting on Monday night (Aug 3). They are optimistic that outstanding issues will be resolved at the next meeting, scheduled for Thursday.

    Monday’s meeting lasted almost three hours and described by party representatives as one that was amicable and cooperative. They also said most of the issues involving the Single-Member and Group-Representation Constituencies have been resolved.

    But some sticking points remain, and it is understood that Marine Parade GRC is one of them. It is the stomping ground of the National Solidarity Party – which contested there in 2011 – and the party is keen to return.

    But the Workers’ Party (WP) has indicated interest – especially now that Joo Chiat SMC will be absorbed into Marine Parade GRC in the next General Election.

    In the 2011 General Election, the WP’s Yee Jenn Jong lost the seat in Joo Chiat to the ruling People’s Action Party’s Charles Chong by just 388 votes.

    Whether either party will budge on their decision to contest in that constituency is anyone’s guess for now. A consensus might not even reached at Thursday’s meeting. A source told Channel NewsAsia several more private meetings between various parties might be needed to iron things out. Even so, political analysts say such meetings indicate a maturity in the way opposition parties interact with one another.

    Dr Gillian Koh, senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies said: “You have the Workers’ Party making a big breakthrough in 2011, so it’s really the leading Opposition party, and it probably feels the obligation to carry on, and go bigger and better. But then you’ve seen many little new parties bubbling up, and old parties being revived.”

    “And so, the general landscape of the Opposition party space in Singapore is becoming more complex, and just becoming more interesting and really more mature. Getting together, meeting, and discussing whether they’ll be able to avoid three-cornered fights is actually a very mature process of negotiation and engagement. It’s a far more complex landscape than we faced say, in 2006 – when we only had two opposition MPs,” she added.

    But another expert said it remains to be seen whether this amicability among the opposition could play out.

    Dr Alan Chong, coordinator of the International Relations Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said: “They realise that in order to gain the same level of prominence and success as WP, the rest of them are still very small fish. So for their electoral survivability, they have to form some kind of alliance. Then again, you never know if they are going to descend into petty bickering the moment Nomination Day is announced.”

    Dr Chong said that while it may seem hopeful that the Opposition Parties can sort out their differences, all bets could be off come Nomination Day.

     

    Source: www.channlnewsasia.com

  • Opposition Parties To Meet Again On Thursday For More Talks

    Opposition Parties To Meet Again On Thursday For More Talks

    A meeting held by eleven opposition parties yesterday evening (Aug 3) ended with party representatives saying that most issues have been resolved.

    Talks lasted for about two and a half hours. Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

    The meeting was conducted to negotiate where each party will field its candidates for General Elections to avoid multi-cornered fights.

    National Solidarity Party’s (NSP) acting secretary-general Hazel Poa said: “We’ve reaffirmed our commitment to avoid three-corner fights and that’s what we’re working towards on Thursday.” She added that the outcomes of today’s discussions would be kept confidential.

    SingFirst’s Fahmi Rais said in Malay that “almost all is settled”, when asked for a ballpark figure on issues that have been settled.

    The People’s Power Party (PPP) chief Goh Meng Seng said he is confident about his party members standing in Chua Chu Kang GRC, and added the “NSP and PPP are like brother parties”. Mr Goh was the former secretary General of the NSP.

    Following yesterday evening’s Opposition meeting, SingFirst’s Tan Jee Say also said most issues have been resolved, adding that “everyone goes in with the spirit of give and take”.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Workers’ Party Visits East Coast GRC And Fengshan SMC

    Workers’ Party Visits East Coast GRC And Fengshan SMC

    The likely Workers’ Party (WP) candidates for East Coast GRC and Fengshan SMC made their first public appearance together yesterday, visiting major markets there to meet stallholders and residents.

    Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Gerald Giam, 37, who was part of the WP’s East Coast team, which garnered 45.2 per cent of the vote in the 2011 General Election, is almost certain to enter the fray once again in the constituency.

    He was joined yesterday by other potential candidates: National University of Singapore associate professor and sociologist Daniel Goh, 42; law firm partner Dennis Tan, 44; research and consultancy firm chief executive and former civil servant Leon Perera, 44; and librarian Mohamed Fairoz Shariff, 36.

    East Coast GRC was a five-MP constituency at the last general election, but will be a four-MP constituency at the next one. This means three of the four new faces could be Mr Giam’s running mates, while one might go it alone in Fengshan SMC.

    Also at the walkabout were WP chief Low Thia Khiang, 58, Aljunied GRC MPs Sylvia Lim, 50, Chen Show Mao, 54, and Faisal Abdul Manap, 40, and Hougang MP Png Eng Huat, 53.

    Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong, 50, who is expected to lead the WP team in Marine Parade GRC, was there too, with potential candidate Terence Tan, 43, a lawyer who has been doing house visits.

    The GRC will absorb Joo Chiat SMC, where Mr Yee stood in 2011 and lost by 388 votes to Mr Charles Chong of the People’s Action Party.

    The WP has been walking the ground daily in recent weeks, with the elections expected next month.

    It said it has not finalised its candidates or where they will stand.

    Speaking to reporters after yesterday’s walkabout, WP chairman Sylvia Lim said the party will formally introduce its candidates after National Day.

    The party said it will also contest Jalan Besar and Nee Soon GRCs, as well as Sengkang West and MacPherson SMCs.

    Last night, the WP held a Hari Raya dinner in Aljunied GRC’s Kaki Bukit ward, attended by party leaders – and the man who stepped down last week from his post as chairman of the PAP branch in the ward, Mr Kahar Hassan, 45.

    Mr Kahar said Mr Faisal had invited him to the dinner “some time back”, and he was there in his personal capacity.

    When asked by reporters if he had joined the WP, Mr Kahar said: “That will never happen – I’ve been a (PAP) member for 20 years. I was invited to this dinner a long time ago.”

    Mr Faisal told reporters that he invited Mr Kahar to the dinner because they both serve residents in the area.

    “We have a working relationship… sometimes I refer residents to him, and sometimes he refers residents to me,” he said.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Lina Chiam: SPP Will Stand In Potong Pasir No Matter

    Lina Chiam: SPP Will Stand In Potong Pasir No Matter

    In a media interview today (28 July), NCMP Lina Chiam said that she will continue to contest in Potong Pasir SMC and that her party “will not budge” even if there’s a 3-cornered fight in Potong Pasir.

    “The SPP will not budge and I’ll still be standing in Potong Pasir even if it’s a three-cornered fight. Because I promised the people of Potong Pasir that I’ll return and I shall return,” Mrs Chiam said.

    “I’ll be continuing to do what is needed for the residents of Potong Pasir regarding feedback, whatever improvements that they want to that still needed to be done. I’ll be continuing to do the work that was left by Mr Chiam.”

    Mrs Chiam lost to PAP MP Sitoh Yih Pin by just 114 votes in GE 2011.

    Financial counsellor Leong Sze Hian told TRE that Mrs Chiam has been attending to residents every week even though she isn’t their elected MP. Mr Leong himself is helping Mrs Chiam in Potong Pasir by giving free financial counselling to the residents.

    “I’ve been helping Mrs Chiam for a few years already. She herself has also made it a point to meet the residents every week even though she is not their MP,” Mr Leong told TRE earlier in response to NTUC Chief Chan Chun Sing’s recent remarks about opposition politicians may be contesting in elections not for the residents but only for winning elections (‘Chan to oppo parties: Your heart must be pure‘).

    “In fact, we see residents from all over Singapore. We don’t turn them away just because they are not from Potong Pasir,” Mr Leong added.

    DPP Pwee ‘optimistic’ about Potong Pasir

    The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has earlier indicated that they also want to contest in Potong Pasir. In fact, DPP’s secretary-general, Mr Benjamin Pwee, is optimistic regardless of how many people will be contesting.

    “If we have one very strong opposition candidate that can stand up against the PAP, it will ultimately be a two-man fight and not a three-cornered fight. But definitely we feel that it would be wonderful to have a very strong alternative candidate that can stand in Potong Pasir against Sitoh Yih Pin and win Potong Pasir back from the PAP,” said Mr Pwee.

    However, quite a number of netizens are not enthusiastic to see a three-cornered fight in Potong Pasir (‘DPP slammed for provoking multi-cornered fights‘). Many are quick to condemn the actions of DPP with one saying on TRE:

    “Guaranteed to lose terok terok if you enter into a 3-cornered fight. Don’t tiew nian ok.”

    Another said:

    “Fly-by-night parties that ‘wake’ up during GEs gunning for multi-cornered fights better understand their own strength before they jump. Opposition supporters will vote for only credible and viable candidates, not the more vocal or those with dubious track record.”

    Yet another wrote a heartfelt open letter to Mr Pwee (‘A heartfelt open letter to DPP’s Benjamin Pwee‘):

    Dear Mr Pwee :

    I will be nice to you.

    The task at hand is to free Singapore from the curse of the great white sharks, or at least put up an effective check on their excesses. I do not know what your objectives are, but surely I do think that they are noble and that you have very good alternative plans for the people, and that you would be an effective voice in Parliament if you and your colleagues get voted in.

    However, please be realistic at this moment in time. We are at a very crucial point in history – make or break. The stake is monumental : the taking back of Singapore from the sharks and returning it to Singaporeans.

    It is not about catching rats, or building a walkway, or fighting dengue or making buses more reliable and less crowded (which not even the WP has the ability yet). Not the local neighbourhood issues. It is not about which party can serve which HDB blocks better. WE are all past there.

    We are now tackling gigantic national issues which have plagued Singaporeans at all levels –

    • the non-stop intake of immigrants
    • the ever squeezing of transportation
    • diminishing apartment sizes (corridors shrunk to < 1.2m)
    • the fixation on extracting more and more money from the people
    • turning our PMETs into taxi drivers and security guards
    • refusal to let us claim our CPF at 55
    • Etc

    Only by going 1-to-1 against the PAP do we have any hope of increasing Opposition seats in Parliament. Please work out a plan with the other parties, in a coordinated attack plan.

    Despite an absence from the electoral scene for some 14 years, this is not the first time the DPP has entered into multi-cornered fights. In 1997, a 4-cornered fight in Chua Chu Kang SMC saw DPP’s Tan Soo Phuan lose his deposit with a mere 1.9% of the valid votes. This set a new record for the lowest share of popular votes until 2013 when SDA had less than 1% of the votes.

    Will 2015 prove to be déjà vu for DPP?

    More promises of facilities for Potong Pasir from PAP MP Sitoh if elected

    Meanwhile, PAP MP Sitoh Yih Pin said more facilities are in the pipeline if he is re-elected in Potong Pasir.

    “Our responsibility and focus and our attention must be to the residents and the voters there. While we have done a lot in the last four-and-a-half years, both in terms of hardware and software, a lot more needs to be done in the next five years,” said Mr Sitoh.

    “So when the election comes, I hope our voters can give me another opportunity to complete the journey we have started.”

    In 2006 before the GE that year, Mr Sitoh was gunning for Potong Pasir. At the time, Mr Chiam was the incumbent MP and he was trying to unseat Mr Chiam then.

    He also promised a lot of things as reported by ST on 5 Feb 2006 [Link]:

    PAP’s Sitoh has 10-year facelift plan for Potong Pasir

    THE People’s Action Party (PAP) man in Potong Pasir, Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, provided clear indications that he will contest the next election there when he spoke yesterday of his 10-year plan for the opposition-held ward.

    WOULD YOU LIKE MORE?

    Speaking before he helped serve abalone porridge to some 4,000 residents attending a Chinese New Year celebration he hosts annually, he said that he wants to see the constituency transformed. Through what he termed his ‘five-plus-five-year’ plan – till 2011 and 2016 – he hopes to have lifts upgraded and stopping on every floor as this will benefit the ageing population in HDB estates there.

    And the Kallang River, which runs through the ward, will be given a facelift so canoeists and watersports enthusiasts can use it, while joggers and others can have activities along its banks.

    Fuller details will be made known over the next two months, he said.

    Mr Sitoh, who is adviser to grassroots organisations in the constituency, contested the 2001 election but lost to long-serving Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Alliance by just 751 votes.

    He has remained active there since, meeting residents and organising activities, including offering shark’s fin soup for $1 during National Day celebrations, free haircuts for senior citizens and organising $88 one-night trips to Port Dickson in Malaysia.

    Although there have been rumours recently that these would be suspended if Mr Sitoh loses to Mr Chiam again, the 42-year-old accountant said that such talk was unfounded.

    ‘The ice-cream auntie told me people think that maybe next year, there won’t be abalone porridge any more,’ Mr Sitoh told residents, speaking in both English and Mandarin.

    ‘But that’s not true. We will continue to do these as long as you support us and our programmes.’

    Since winning Potong Pasir in 2011, it’s not known if he still continues to dish out abalone porridge to the residents there.

     

    Source: www.tremeritus.com

  • Walid J. Abdullah: Multi-Cornered Fight Is Good, Vote-Splitting Will be Rare

    Walid J. Abdullah: Multi-Cornered Fight Is Good, Vote-Splitting Will be Rare

    Some people have expressed their fears of multi-cornered fights in the upcoming GE (they are mostly either opposition supporters or people who want the PAP to be in government but wish to see more opposition voices in Parliament). I do not share their fears and have more faith in Singaporeans in this regard: not because i believe that all Singaporeans are politically astute in all aspects, but because there have been evidence to suggest that Singaporeans have learnt the potential effects of multi-cornered fights.

    In the 2011 Presidential Election, Singaporeans were divided between three candidates: eventually, Dr Tony Tan won the election with the tiniest of margins. A substantial amount of people who voted for Tan Jee Say (25%) must have regretted their choice, as had they casted their votes for Dr Tan Cheng Bock (who would be the natural next option: one cannot imagine a person who voted for TJS preferring Tony Tan over TCB), TCB would have been the president.

    Fast forward to 2013: Punggol East by-election. There were two things that did not receive sufficient attention in the aftermath of the sensational electoral outcome: 1) the disastrous performances of Desmond Lim and Kenneth Jeyaretnam (Desmond’s one is particularly important), and 2) SDP was completely ignored by WP when the former attempted to devise creative plans to mount a ‘unified’opposition to PAP.

    In the 2011 GE, Desmond contested the Punggol East constituency against PAP and WP candidates. He received 4.45% of the votes. In 2013, he attained just 0.57% of the vote share. While both results were atrocious, the second one was particularly so. I argue that Singaporeans had learnt from the Presidential Elections that every vote truly mattered in a multi-cornered contest, and hence were less likely to waste their votes on candidates who had no serious chance of winning (in the first place, a significant portion of the 4.45% he received in 2011 could have been purely out of sympathy, and when the going gets tough, there really is less room for sympathy or other considerations). The fact that SDP withdrew very early on, suggests that its leaders probably believed this from the start too.

    In Political Science literature, the above phenomenon is known as the ‘psychological effect’ in voting, and was made popular by Duverger. I believe we have seen the psychological effect occurring in Singapore, and that we will see more of it if there are more multi-cornered fights.

    Hence, I contend that the following will be likely to happen:

    In the constituencies that WP is contesting, the other opposition parties who decide to contest will not get their deposits back. In fact, I do not expect them to get more than 3% of the votes. This is regardless of which are the other parties.

    In the constituencies that WP is not contesting but there are multi-cornered contests, it depends on which parties are contesting. If SDP and NSP contest, then maybe the votes would be significantly split: this is because both are parties of similar stature, and opposition supporters may be divided as to which would be the party that would get more votes.

    In the constituencies that WP is not contesting, and only either SDP or NSP is contesting with the other smaller parties, one can expect the other parties to not get their deposits back.

    So perhaps the opposition parties should take heed from lessons of the 2011 Presidential Elections and 2013 Punggol-East By-Election: be prepared to lose your money in the multi-cornered fights, because vote-splitting between the opposition parties will be rare.

    In any case, Singaporeans should not be overly-worried about having more parties in electoral contests: such a situation is ultimately good in enhancing democracy.

     

    Source: Walid J. Abdullah