PUBLISHED ONJuly 03, 2020 4:43 PMByYuki LingUnless you've been living under a rock, you should have some inkling of the People's Action Party (PAP) and the Workers' Party (WP).
But what about RP? Or PSP? Or SDP? If these acronyms mean nothing to you, then you're in the right place.
In this series — a cheat sheet of sorts — we sieve out the facts you ought to know about Singapore's political parties.
By the end of this, you should have a better idea of the parties who may be contesting in the upcoming general election and what they're all about.
Our next party is set for a leadership renewal next election, but first, it's up for a fierce three-way fight this election.
When were they formed?
Formed in 2001, the SDA was led by veteran opposition politician Chiam See Tong, then secretary-general of the Singapore People’s Party (SPP).
The party started as a five-party coalition, comprising the SPP, the National Solidarity Party (NSP), Singapore National Front (SNF), Singapore Justice Party (SJP) and Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS).
The coalition strived to create a dominant opposition and ultimately establish a two-party political system in Singapore.
However, the alliance saw NSP's departure in 2007 when the latter wanted "to explore new possibilities through wider latitude to manoeuvre, re-engineer, and rebuild". The SPP also left the alliance in 2011.
In 2011, Desmond Lim succeeded Chiam, taking over leadership of the SDA.
SDA is presently made up of the SJP and PKMS. While there were reports of four other opposition parties applying to join the alliance prior to this election, the talks eventually fell through.
Lim has announced his plans to step down from his secretary-general role after this election and named the party's chief media officer Harminder Pal Singh as his successor.
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What are they all about?
The SDA, which has the motto "Service Before Self", champions charitable and welfare-based policies.
For the upcoming election, the party aims to “provide a better life for all Singaporeans, not just a privileged few.”
They highlighted four areas in which they feel that Singaporeans are struggling with, based on feedback they have received from residents in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, where they will be contesting in.
Some proposed policies from their eight-page manifesto titled “SDA: A Heart for the People” include:
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Where are they contesting?
SDA is only contesting in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
The team consists of Lim, Harminder, PKMS president Abu Mohamed, as well as two new faces Kelvin Ong Soon Huat and Kuswadi Atnawi.
In the only three-cornered fight this General Election, SDP will go up against teams led by PAP's Teo Chee Hean and People's Voice's Jireh Lim.
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Track record
SDA first contested in the 2001 General Election where it fielded 13 candidates in two GRCs – Tampines GRC and Jalan Besar GRC – and three SMCs – Potong Pasir, Bukit Timah and Chua Chu Kang.
Chiam was the only candidate who won a seat that election, becoming the second opposition member ever elected to Parliament.
In 2006, SDA contested 20 seats – its highest number of candidates thus far – in Chua Chu Kang SMC, Jalan Besar GRC, Macpherson SMC, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, Potong Pasir SMC, Tampines GRC and Yio Chu Kang SMC.
Apart from Chiam who was re-elected in Potong Pasir, no other seats were captured by the SDA.
During the 2011 elections, the SDA contested seven seats in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Punggol East SMC, but failed to secure any.
In 2015, the party came face-to-face with the incumbent PAP at Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC again. They obtained 27.11 per cent of the vote against the PAP.
In case you missed it
Here are the other parties we've covered:
Stay tuned for the next instalment in the series — Peoples Voice.