The mainstream media recently reported that a group of four opposition parties - Singaporeans First (SF), Reform Party (RP), People's Power Party (PPP), and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) - will be forming an alliance led by Tan Jee Say, the Secretary-General of SF.
Tan has now clarified that while the idea of forming an opposition alliance has been mooted and discussed several times by different opposition parties, no leader has yet been appointed. Elaborating, Tan shared that the members have previously asked Dr Tan Cheng Bock to lead the alliance and would more than welcome him into the fold.
Tan explained that he was approached by an ST reporter regarding the news of the formation of the alliance and this was his response:
1 You will recall that in July 2018, SDP called for a meeting with several other parties and attended by TCB when the idea of a coalition of opposition parties was discussed and TCB was invited to lead it. We waited more than a year for TCB’s response and when he did not call for a meeting, a few of us discussed forming an alliance. When TCB finally called for the meeting on 2 Nov 2019, we asked him to form a formal alliance and lead it. Whilst waiting for his response, we put our alliance idea on hold.We are now discussing the issue again after TCB has still not given us an answer after more than 2 months. As GE is getting closer, we are thinking of going ahead with registering the proposed alliance and then invite TCB to lead this formal alliance after we have registered it.
2 The proposed alliance is only an idea at this stage and there is no formal leader. I represented it in approaching other parties to join us.
3 We have not yet decided on the number of candidates to field. The 4 initial parties in this proposed alliance contested in 6 GRCs and 1 SMC in the last GE.”
The door is open for Dr Tan to lead the alliance. It would be a masterstroke if Dr Tan does indeed lead the alliance.
Singaporeans are savvy voters.
With Dr Tan at the helm, he will be the face of the alliance that Singaporeans can, and will, vote for.
Apart from The Workers' Party (WP) and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), no other opposition party has the same reputation that can rival the PAP. Dr Tan's assumption of opposition leadership willl correct that and not only provide an impetus for the smaller parties, but to the SDP and WP who can also ride on Dr Tan's branding and reputation.
It's an exciting time to be a Singaporean voter.
