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SDP proposes joint campaign with WP

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has called on the Workers' Party (WP) to work with it to field a single candidate under a joint campaign.

Under their "win-win-win" plan, the candidate would come from the SDP, but if elected, the WP would be given the responsibility of running the town council.

"In the spirit of compromise and cooperation, we would like to propose that our two parties run a joint campaign and field one candidate from the SDP. If victorious, the SDP candidate will enter Parliament, and the WP will run the Punggol East Town Council," it said in a statement.

This arrangement, the SDP said, would add clout to WP's town council management and give it access to the Punggol East grassroots network. Meanwhile, the SDP candidate would be able to debate the party's alternative policies in Parliament.

The shock proposal comes after a proposed meeting with the WP on Friday afternoon drew a blank. The party said it has made three attempts to meet with the WP for talks and also made public its letters to the WP on its website.

In the statement, the party said it was "disappointed" but has not given up effort of finding a solution to field one Opposition candidate in the upcoming Punggol East contest. It has now sent a fourth letter to WP asking for a meeting on Saturday to discuss this latest proposal.

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