Opposition meeting on multi-cornered fights ends in stalemate
11 Opposition parties met at the National Solidarity Party's headquarters in Jalan Besar on Aug 3 to work out where each party will field their candidates in the coming General Election. Photo: Wee Teck Hian
SINGAPORE — Three hours of horse-trading talks between the opposition parties last night failed to completely resolve potential multi-cornered fights in the coming General Election, with another meeting scheduled for Thursday.
With prominent Opposition leaders — namely Mr Low Thia Khiang and Ms Sylvia Lim from the Workers’ Party (WP), and Dr Chee Soon Juan from the Singapore Democratic Party - absent from the talks, those who attended the meeting said they would have to report back the discussions to their respective central executive committees (CECs), before returning back to the negotiating table.
Nevertheless, the opposition leaders who were present put up a united front - emerging all smiles from the talks, and maintaining the standard line that the talks were amicable and most issues have been resolved, as they fended off attempts from the media pack to find out what were discussed behind closed doors.
The meeting, which had been postponed from last Friday, was held at the National Solidarity Party’s (NSP) Jalan Besar headquarter.
NSP acting secretary-general Hazel Poa said: “We managed to resolve most of the SMCs (Single Member Constituencies) and GRCs (Group Representation Constituencies) but there are some that still require further negotiations.”
She added: “In the meantime, we have decided to keep the outcome of today’s discussion confidential for the time being, untill Thursday’s meeting. What each party has done is reaffirm our commitment to avoid three-cornered fights and that’s what we are working towards.”
At least 12 out of 29 constituencies delineated for the coming General Election have attracted the attention of more than one challenger to the incumbent. Among the constituencies that have attracted the most attention so far are Potong Pasir single-seat ward and Tanjong Pagar GRC which are facing the prospect of four-cornered fights.
Yesterday’s meeting was attended by 11 Opposition parties - including the Singapore National Front and the Socialist Front, which have not declared their intention to contest in the coming GE. Among the first to arrive were Ms Poa and NSP president Sebastian Teo, followed by Singapore Democratic Alliance’s chairman Desmond Lim.
WP was represented by its Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament Faisal Manap, Non-constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong and potential candidate Daniel Goh.
Also in attendance were the Singapore People’s Party Non-Constituency MP Lina Chiam, Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam, Democratic Progressive People secretary-general Benjamin Pwee, Singaporeans First (SingFirst) chief Tan Jee Say and People’s Power Party secretary-general Goh Meng Seng.
The SDP were represented by CEC members Gerald Sng and Christopher Ang.
Before the meeting commenced at about 7.50pm, the Opposition members posed for a group picture but the WP representatives did not join in.
Less than an hour into the meeting, the Socialist Front chairman Ng Teck Siong left the talks, citing urgent matters which he had to attend to. The party’s secretary-general Chia Ti Lik later confirmed that his party is not contesting in the coming GE. He described the atmosphere of the talks as “pretty encouraging” and “cooperative”. Singapore National Front president Karim Sattar, who left the discussion room for a short break at about 9pm, told reporters that the talks were “friendly”. Without elaborating, he added that discussions for one or two constituencies were “a bit heated”.
After the meeting, the opposition representatives were tight lipped on the details of the talks.
Nevertheless, it is understood that the newly-created Fengshan SMC - which has attracted interest from WP and DPP - was among the constituencies where a potential multi-cornered fight was unresolved. Some of those who attended the meeting hinted that WP is unlikely to budge on its intent to contest there.
Mr Yee told reporters that “most things have been resolved”. He said: “These things take time...life goes on, we will go on with with our house visits.”
Mr Tan said the meeting “went on well with a spirit of coopereation”. He added that his party would meet bilaterally with other parties to resolve outstanding issues.
Political analyst Eugene Tan noted that there might be “more bilateral discussions and negotiations rather than a multilateral one”. “The latter has limited efficacy. Partly because there is no doyen among opposition leaders who can broker purposeful political arrangements for the GE,” said the Singapore Management University law don. But he added: “Time is of the essence. The sooner the parties sort out where they are contesting, the better. They need to get down to working the ground and stewarding their very limited resources very prudently.”
SingFirst’s Mr Tan said as much: “We want to resolve (the issues) early also because voting is coming soon and we can’t hold back our walkabouts.”
