Opposition unity close to impossible in future elections after WP withdrawal: NSP chief

The eleventh-hour decision by WP to withdraw from Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC will make it near impossible for opposition parties to cooperate and avoid multi-party contests in future elections.

- Shabana Begum

Speaking during a walkabout at Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre on April 24, National Solidarity Party (NSP) secretary-general Spencer Ng said that maintaining unity among opposition parties to avoid multi-cornered battles is going to be "extremely difficult, or close to impossible".

"Some parties, in the name of opposition unity, demand that the other party make way for them.

"They make use of this (idea of) opposition unity and try to barge their way through," said Mr Ng, who leads the five-member NSP team contesting Sembawang GRC.

His comments echo the view of People's Power Party (PPP) secretary-general Goh Meng Seng, who said he was angry that the WP decided not to field a team for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

"It is very ironic that the slogan of WP is 'Working for Singapore'. But do you really work for Singapore when you deprive 130,000 voters of their right to vote?" he reportedly said.

NSP had earlier indicated its interest to contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC after the redrawing of boundaries. It last contested Marine Parade GRC in 2011.

In the 2020 election, PAP retained Marine Parade GRC with 57.74 per cent of the vote against WP. This was down from 64.07 per cent in 2015.