GE2015: SDP chief Chee Soon Juan moots possibility of working with WP at next election

SDP chief Chee Soon Juan at a press conference to assess his party's performance at the 2015 General Election. PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER

SINGAPORE - Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Chee Soon Juan has raised the possibility of his party "working closer together" with the Workers' Party at the next general election.

Dr Chee, 53, said in a Facebook post on Sunday (Sept 13) afternoon that many of his supporters had put forth the idea to him, so as to "present a more coordinated opposition strategy and message".

He wrote: "Given the outcome of the polls, I think so too. I'll discuss the idea with my CEC colleagues when we meet later this week.

"Will keep you posted."

He also shared that he spent the weekend quietly with his family.

"It's been an intense past week and yesterday was a day with a bit of much welcomed downtime," he wrote.

SDP had been billed as the comeback kids of the 2015 General Election, with Dr Chee's more moderate image and articulate speeches proving to be a big draw at the party's rallies.

Dr Chee, a former psychology professor at the National University of Singapore, was returning after sitting out the last two elections in 2006 and 2011.

He led a team to contest in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC against a People's Action Party (PAP) slate helmed by Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

The other three members of his team consisted of medical professor Paul Tambyah, healthcare administrator Chong Wai Fung and compliance auditor Sidek Mallek.

But the team eventually managed only 33.4 per cent of the votes - a drop from the 39.9 per cent it obtained in 2011 - in a contest many had held high hopes of witnessing a close battle.

The party also did not fare well in the other four wards it contested in - Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, as well as Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang and Yuhua SMCs.

But in an interview with The New Paper on Sunday, Dr Chee's second daughter, 13-year-old E Lyn, said she was confident that he would be back.

"Just keep going and don't give up...this time it doesn't matter because next time he can work harder."

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