反对党何必高谈团结？

This is a non-verbatim translation of a Lianhe Zaobao Op-Ed 《反对党何必高谈团结？》 dated 01 Jan 2011 by Yew Lun Tian.

Is Opposition unity an elusive target?

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Translated by Donaldson Tan

According to Opposition leaders, opposition unity is considered achieved if three-cornered fights are avoided during General Election (GE). With GE looming in the background, it is hardly a surprise the 2010 was an active year for various political parties in Singapore. Even the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) invited 2 other political parties to its annual Christmas Party that was held at Potong Pasir Block 108 last week. The SPP organises this Christmas party every year for its members and supporters.

During the Christmas Party, Madam Lina Luo expressed her hope for more Opposition unity. Madam Luo is the wife of Mr Chiam See Tong, SPP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Potong Pasir. A year ago, Mr Chiam See Tong made the same call for Opposition unity. During a dinner marking his 25 years as the MP for Potong Pasir, he proclaimed: ‘Let Potong Pasir be a power base and a beacon for more Opposition victories’

In order to improve the current delicate situation of having 2 Opposition MPs in Parliament, the Opposition political parties have to unite. Such calls have been echoed by concerned netizens and constituents at dialogue sessions who want to see a more diversified Parliament composition. However, looking back into 2010, the lack of progress in cooperation among opposition political partieis has been rather disappointing.

Firstly, the move for Reform Party (RP) to join the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) has come to an abrupt end. Last June, Mr & Mrs Chiam See Tong approached the RP Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam secretly to discuss how to form a joint GRC team. Since the GRC team members must contest under the same banner, Mr Chiam invited RP to join SDA. Last April, both parties agreed to the 11 points proposed by Mr Jeyaretnam. The 11 points include Mr Jeyaretnam becoming the Chair or Secretary-General of the SDA, renaming SDA to the “Singapore Reform Democratic Alliance” in order reflect RP’s equal standing with SDA and Mr Chiam See Tong contesting under a RP-dominated GRC team while Mr Jeyaretnam retaining the option of contesting a SMC himself.

Although the 11 points reveal Mr Jeyaretnam’s ambition to seize leadership of the SDA, Mr Chiam accepted these 11 points so as to cement cooperation with Mr Jeyaretnam. However, the other 2 component parties of the SDA objected the 11 points. The other 2 component parties are the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) and the Singapore Justice Party (SJP). They objected RP’s entry into the SDA at 2 SDA Supreme Executive Council meetings which were held in May and November 2010. Seeing no hope of entering the SDA, Mr Jeyaretnam publicly announced the withdrawal of RP’s application into the SDA.

Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam is not only highly educated, but is also widely regarded as the successor to the legacy of former Workers’ Party Secretary-General Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam’s legacy, being his eldest son. At the same time, RP has attracted former government scholars Mr Tony Tan Lay Thiam, Madam Hazel Poa and other young promising members into its ranks. If RP were to join SDA, it is possible for the SDA to become a force to be reckoned with.

However, the deliberation process on RP’s entry in the SDA has not only failed to strengthen the SDA, but also has weakened the SDA considerably. The SDA Supreme Executive Council has not only curtailed Mr Chiam’s privileges as Chairman to negotiate and speak for the SDA, it also transferred these privileges to his nemesis SDA Secretary-General Mr Desmond Lim and the PKMS Secretary-General Mr Mohd Nazem Suki.

Mr Chiam also faces internal challenges within the SPP for siding with Mr Jeyaretnam. For example, former SPP Assistant Secretary-General Mr Desmond Lim, who followed Mr Chiam for 14 years, challenged Mr Chiam’s leadership because he found the 11 points unacceptable. Even SPP Chairman Mr Sin Kek Tong, who has followed Mr Chiam for more than 20 years, spilled the beans on Mr Chiam allocating less than 10% of his MP allowance, the quantum required by the SPP Constitution, to the party coffer for more than 10 years. It is believed that Mr Sin is unhappy with Mr Chiam for failing to secure Mr Sin’s interest to contest Choa Chu Kang SMC as one of the collaboration terms with RP so as to avoid a three-cornered fight with PAP and RP at Choa Chu Kang.

It is ironic that the people who shouted the largest for Opposition unity were also the same newsmakers responsible for damaging the unity cause in 2010. The lack of cooperation among Opposition political parties is a long-time phenomena. Till today, their “cooperation” is limited to posing for photographs together at anniversary dinners and other public events. Sources within the Opposition say that each political party operates on its own, hardly any cooperation. For example, if Political Party A conducts a walkabout in a constituency already targeted by Political Party B, A would not inform B of its intentions.

On the other hand, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has not only convened a roundtable on opposition unity in March 2010, it has also gradually lessened its civil disobedience campaigns. RP also attempted to initiate such talks last August while Mr Desmond Lim told Zaobao last month he would like to organise monthly meetings with opposition party leaders to discuss political strategies. It is not difficult to initiate such meetings, but these meetings remain ineffective as long as attendance is low.

The low attendance reflects the suspicion and grudges among political parties, with the Workers’ Party (WP) most actively distancing itself from other opposition political parties. In the absence of political parties with sufficient credibility to convene a meeting involving every opposition political party, there is political space for socio-political websites such as The Online Citizen (TOC) to organise public multi-party dialogues.

Last month, all 6 opposition political parties responded to TOC’s invitation to participate at its inaugural Face-to-Face Forum. Although the Worker’s Party wasn’t represented by Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang or Chairman Sylvia Lim, it was still represented by a member of the WP Central Executive Committee. The forum was almost full-house with an attendance strength of 350. A TOC spokesperson didn’t mince his words on the intention to turn TOC into the “kingmaker” of the Opposition. “It is our intention to promote TOC as the defacto online platform for the Opposition to engage netizens,” he said.

A former Opposition GE candidate commented that the Opposition parties today is still in a mess. “The current situation is like many small provision shops competing against one another and supermarkets. They don’t want to share resources so as to achieve economies of scale. As a result, the supermarkets become stronger while the small provision shops become weaker,” he said.

Opposition leaders who were interviewed said that opposition unity is considered achieved if three-cornered fights are avoided during GE and there is no need for further collaboration. One secretary-general of an opposition political party said: “if every opposition political party makes the same alternative policy proposal, then there is no difference from the lack of diversity in opinions in Parliament. Such a predicament means voters have no options to choose from.”

There is a popular theory that states until every opposition political party has at least one Member of Parliament, then they can cooperate with each other on equal footing. Hence, now is not the time for Opposition unity. A person familiar with the SDA leadership said: “When a MP-less political party collaborate with another political party that has representation in Parliament, the former can make a lot of requests and gain a lot for doing nothing. This is why SDA is not the ideal platform for collaboration.”

Another political observer shares the same sentiment. “The opposition political party with the most seats in parliament will attract leaders, members and supporters of other opposition political parties. Politics is like the commercial marketplace where the strong devours the weak,” he said.

However, an opposing argument claims that opposition unity is not as important as the electorate’s unhappiness with PAP’s public policies. The electorate’s unhappiness is most crucial for determining the outcome of the General Election.

In either case, it is better for opposition political parties to consolidate their party strengths and stop shouting sound bites proclaiming opposition unity.