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Post-GE2015: Would SDP's Chee Soon Juan do better in an SMC?

Singapore Democratic Party's Chee Soon Juan at the party's headquarter office in Ang Mo Kio.

Singapore's 2015 General Election is done and dusted, and the ruling People's Action Party has returned to power on the back of a resounding victory. In this series of post-election interviews, Yahoo Singapore checks up on some of the candidates who took part in the polls. Featured here: Singapore Democratic Party secretary-general Chee Soon Juan, who was interviewed Saturday, 19 September.

With his eloquence and charisma, should Singapore Democratic Party secretary-general Chee Soon Juan try out in a single member constituency the next time elections are called?

Despite urgings by some of his followers to do just that, Chee indicates that the party will likely to stick to the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, an affluent district with many landed homes.

"I don't think we'll go anywhere [else]," he says.

Speaking to Yahoo Singapore in an interview before delivering a post-election speech at the SDP’s headquarters in Ang Mo Kio, the 53-year-old opposition leader sees “very little difference” when it comes to contesting for a group representation (GRC) or a single member constituency (SMC).

“You look at all the constituencies in Singapore, they are pretty homogeneous,” he says, noting that each constituency will have its share of minorities, the HDB majority cluster and the high-income earners in landed property.

"As with most GRCs, you need a little bit more logistics than an SMC, but then we'll always take care of all our candidates," he says. "We fielded eleven candidates, still very manageable in that sense."

This year’s election was the first time for Chee after 15 years. He was banned from contesting in 2006 and 2011 because he was declared bankrupt, after being sued by Goh Chok Tong and the late Lee Kuan Yew for defamation and made to pay $500,000 in damages.

His comeback this year was welcomed by supporters, thousands of whom thronged to his rallies and circulated videos of his rally speeches on social media.

SDP, however, lost to PAP with only 33.38 per cent of the vote share, while PAP won with 66.62 per cent. The results were consistent with the swing away from opposition parties to the PAP seen in the other constituencies.

Election result not surprising

Singapore Democratic Party's Chee Soon Juan speaking to supporters at the party's headquarter office in Ang Mo Kio.
Singapore Democratic Party's Chee Soon Juan speaking to supporters at the party's headquarter office in Ang Mo Kio.

When reflecting on his reaction after seeing the results on polling night, Chee says the results were disappointing but not surprising.

Given the election system of block-voting in the bigger constituencies, it is "not realistic” to expect any significant change in results, he says.

“Without any fundamental changes in the way elections are run, and our media, you’re not looking at any result that is meaningful in any significant way," he points out.

Nevertheless, SDP has already begun work for the next elections – which is expected to take place in another four to five years – and have started calling for new volunteers.

Opposition cooperation?

Since the election, Chee has also mooted the idea of working together with the country's leading opposition group, the Workers’ Party, for the next elections.

When asked about this, he said SDP is still “working on it”.

He was reluctant to provide more details, but he noted, "In the state we are in, we have to come together."

In the recent polls, as in the 2011 elections, WP won the Aljunied GRC and the Hougang SMC, but this time around it was at a much-reduced margin. Worse, it lost the Punggol East constituency it had snatched from the PAP in a 2012 by-election.

Earlier during the elections, two other opposition parties - Singapore People's Party and Democratic Progressive Party - collaborated on a joint team to contest in the five-member Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. Two of the candidates were from DPP while the other three were from SPP. However, the team lost to the PAP with just 26 per cent of share votes.

Leadership renewal talk 'contrived'

 

Supporters turn up for Singapore Democratic Party's post-GE forum at its HQ office. 
Supporters turn up for Singapore Democratic Party's post-GE forum at its HQ office. 

In recent months, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has been talking about his plans to renew the leaders in the government. He has indicated he plans to add more new PAP faces in his next Cabinet.

Is SDP also looking at leadership renewal?

“I really hate [to] talk about renewal because it’s so contrived,” says Chee, who believes that the more democratic way would be to open up to the community and let leaders “come up”.

In terms of recruiting potential candidates, Chee says the party focuses on putting their views on social media and engaging with the people who "come forward". While many are still not ready to stand for elections, they have pledged support to help and continue the party’s programme, he notes.

“The mainstream media is just very controlled so that direction is very hard for us,” he says.

After the interview, Chee went on to greet the supporters in the office and proceeded with his speech, where he spoke about his thoughts on election system and results.

He concluded, “By the time next election comes I will be in my late 50s. I don’t know if I will ever make it to Parliament, but that is secondary. If it takes my whole life to make it happen, I will do it… If we keep to the mindset that PAP is too large, we are defeated.”