GE2020: ONE YEAR ON
In fragmented opposition landscape, smaller parties face relevance issue
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Singapore Democratic Party candidates, led by Dr Chee Soon Juan, on the campaign trail in Bukit Batok on July 8 last year during the general election. The party has suspended its ground activities due to Covid-19 restrictions, but Dr Chee, who contested in Bukit Batok SMC, has still tried to make it a point to visit the constituency.
ST FILE PHOTO
Justin Ong, Tham Yuen-C, Lim Min Zhang
Last year's general election was contested by 10 opposition parties, up from six in 2011 and eight in 2015. Throw in the most-recently formed Singapore United Party, plus the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which sat out the 2020 polls, and the number of active opposition parties stands at 12 today.
Political watchers warn that the danger of the smaller parties becoming irrelevant has grown since GE2020, with the increasing profile of both the Workers' Party (WP) and the Progress Singapore Party (PSP).
"There has been a growing stratification of opposition parties in the landscape," says political analyst Loke Hoe Yeong. "The smaller ones are becoming even smaller, while the larger parties like the WP are growing larger."
The WP now has 10 MPs in the House, while the PSP has two Non-Constituency MPs.
Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan says the smaller parties will not be able to hold a candle to these two parties, "especially if they only come to life in the lead-up to the GE, only to go into a political slumber soon after the hustings".
An alliance of some of the parties was mooted before the GE, but did not materialise. Asked about it, People's Power Party (PPP) chief Goh Meng Seng, one of the key people backing the idea, says talks are ongoing, though the last time the parties spoke about the issue was right after the election in July last year.
Meanwhile, DPP chief Hamim Aliyas still hopes to form an alliance with PPP and the Reform Party ahead of the next election.
Red Dot United (RDU), the newest party at last year's election, is also looking to work more closely with other parties - a position also taken by the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA).
SMU's Associate Professor Tan says while it makes sense, and is arguably necessary, for the smaller parties to pool resources, coming together is easier said than done.
The smaller parties have also continued to move in very different directions, with Peoples Voice (PV) and PPP becoming more critical of other opposition parties.
Both Mr Goh Meng Seng and PV chief Lim Tean have also focused more of their efforts online, believing that it is a better form of outreach during this period. Insight could not reach Mr Lim for comments.
Meanwhile, other parties have focused their efforts on the ground. One of them is the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), which contested and lost in five constituencies in GE2020, but improved its vote share.
The party has suspended its ground activities due to Covid-19 restrictions, but SDP chief Chee Soon Juan, who contested in Bukit Batok SMC, has still tried to make it a point to visit the constituency.
Recently, he also opened a cafe in Rochester Mall. Dr Chee did not respond by press time to a request for comment.
Singapore People's Party chief Steve Chia says the party continues to make house visits in Bishan-Toa Payoh, where it had contested, about once a month. A party conference will be held at the end of the year to elect leaders, he adds.
RDU secretary-general Ravi Philemon says his party continues to work the ground in Jurong, with an eye on contesting more constituencies in the next GE.
The SDA, too, has continued to work the ground and distribute essentials to the needy.
Reform Party secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam says developments in the past year demonstrate one thing: That "opposition" is no longer a "dirty" word.
Mr Spencer Ng, secretary-general of the National Solidarity Party, believes that voters still desire to elect parties like his to represent them in Parliament. "We are constantly working hard towards that goal."
Prof Tan says that so long as a small party is confident of not losing its election deposit, it is likely to throw its hat into the ring.
"For some, that is their de facto raison d'etre," he adds. "What keeps them going is the hope and belief that their party might just make that quantum leap and be the... WP of today."
