Opposition parties say ready to do battle in coming polls

Singapore

OPPOSITION parties said they are ready to do battle after the announcement of Singapore's next General Election (GE).

There was little surprise or objection to the timing of the GE - Polling Day is set for July 10 - at a time when Singapore has just emerged from a two-month circuit-breaker period. There remain fears of a second wave of Covid-19 infections, now that the country has entered Phase Two of its reopening.

"The possibility of a GE has been on the cards for some time," said Singapore People's Party (SPP) chairman Jose Raymond. The party said it was looking forward to the election, having earlier said it would contest the Potong Pasir single seat and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

"In terms of our outreach in Potong Pasir, work began three years ago and we are looking forward to the contest, in an area we hold close to our hearts," said Mr Raymond, who will be contesting in Potong Pasir.

He added that the party aims to reach out to as many residents as possible, including in Bishan-Toa Payoh.

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The National Solidarity Party (NSP) was another party that welcomed the move to dissolve Singapore's 13th Parliament on Tuesday. "This GE is not just an election to choose a government that can respond to crisis such as Covid-19, but also one that has checks and balances by opposition parties," it said on Facebook. "(It is also to choose) a government that is responsible, transparent, honest and accountable to Singaporeans."

Many opposition parties, in fact, have already begun their preparations and were quick to respond when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the election in a televised address on Tuesday.

The Progress Singapore Party (PSP), led by former People's Action Party (PAP) member of parliament Tan Cheng Bock, introduced a second batch of six candidates during a virtual press conference earlier in the day.

PSP, which is looking at fielding as many as 29 candidates, is expected to contest several constituencies in the western part of Singapore, including West Coast GRC.

Among the six candidates introduced on Tuesday are Gigene Wong, a 54-year-old former chief executive of Gulf Oil China, and Hazel Poa, 50, the party's vice-chairman and a former secretary-general of the NSP.

In a Facebook post, PSP said: "Progress Singapore Party, under the steady leadership of our Secretary-General Tan Cheng Bock, is ready to serve Singaporeans and fight for the future that we all deserve."

The Workers' Party (WP), the only opposition party with elected MPs in Parliament, posted a video on its Facebook featuring a slate of fresh faces as well as a few familiar ones, with the caption "GE2020: Coming soon".

The video offered a glimpse of 12 faces in total, including WP chairman Sylvia Lim, organising secretary Dennis Tan, former National Solidarity Party candidate Nicole Seah, and a new face - Raeesah Khan, the founder of a non-profit organisation Reyna Movement.

The video did not include former party chief Low Thia Khiang, Chen Show Mao and Faisal Manap, who served as Aljunied GRC MPs, as well as Png Eng Huat (Hougang) and potential candidates Gerald Giam and Yee Jenn Yong.

Both Mr Low, who is recovering from a fall that landed him in intensive care in April, and Mr Png are reportedly thinking of retiring from politics. The party is expected to focus on constituencies in the east.

Meanwhile, Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan, who lost to the PAP's Murali Pillai in the Bukit Batok by-election in 2016, confirmed in a Facebook post that he would be running again in the single-seat ward - and called for the voters' support.

"My friends, the Writ of Election has been issued. It's crunch time. I'll be doing battle again at Bukit Batok and I hope that you will give me your support as you have all these years," he said.

While not objecting to the GE being called at this time, People's Power Party chief Goh Meng Seng said that Nomination Day, on June 30, should be delayed to allow prospective candidates who are currently overseas to return to Singapore.

"It should be at least 14 days for potential candidates overseas to make their way back for Nomination Day from today," he said. "In view of Covid-19, we should not put our citizens' health at risk just for this GE."

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For more of our Singapore GE2020 coverage, go to bt.sg/ge2020