Dim outlook for Singapore’s new opposition bloc

SINGAPORE: A new opposition alliance set to challenge ruling party People’s Action Party (PAP) in the general election (GE) next year has been given a dim outlook with analysts dismissing their chances of creating an upset.

Analysts told TodayOnline that the formation of the alliance was an attempt on the part of four small political parties to avoid from being consigned to irrelevance in the next GE.

The parties are Singaporeans First (SingFirst), Reform Party (RP), People’s Power Party (PPP) and Democratic Progressive Party.

Singapore Management University law lecturer Eugene Tan said since all four parties fared poorly in the last GE, he did not see the possibility of a setback against PAP.

“The new platform is not going to automatically boost their electability overnight,” said the portal, quoting Tan, who opined that the new bloc needed a unified image and must explain their stand politically.

“Otherwise, the new bloc would only serve as ‘an alliance of convenience and expediency’ to have more bargaining power with the other parties.

“An alliance may well be the easier thing to do for now. Making it work and having a strong appeal are more challenging tasks.”

In the 2015 polls, the four parties contested for six group representation constituencies and one single-member constituency, fielding a combined total of 30 candidates, said the portal.

The alliance was led by SingFirst secretary-general Tan Jee Say and planned to field the number of candidates like the previous election, said The Straits Times.

As for senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s East Asia Institute, Dr Lam Peng Er, the newly established alliance is a coming together of “mosquito parties”.

“Coming together, we will have more shared resources, and more importantly, we can bring all our talent together and form a stronger team,” a senior member of PPP told The Straits Times, adding that “we (opposition parties) have indicated time and again that we will form a true alliance, now we are fulfilling that.”