SINGAPORE: Opposition unity should not come at the cost of a party’s own interests, said National Solidarity Party (NSP) secretary-general Spencer Ng on Thursday (Apr 24) as he pushed back against calls for opposition parties to step aside in certain constituencies.
“There must be a line,” Mr Ng told reporters after a walkabout at Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre in Sembawang GRC. “If we move whenever you tell us to move, then what’s the value of our existence? There’s no value at all.
“And to be treated by fellow opposition parties in this manner, they should do some soul searching.”
He warned against misusing the notion of opposition unity as a way for parties to “barge their way through” to stake claims to constituencies.
Mr Ng was responding to questions about the walkover at Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC – the first in a General Election since 2011 – and broader concerns around coordination among opposition parties.
While NSP would like a “unified alternative voice”, as more political parties and diverse leadership styles emerge, achieving a fully unified opposition is “close to impossible”, he said.
On Wednesday, a five-member People’s Action Party (PAP) team for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC was declared elected after no other candidates submitted nomination papers for the constituency.
Several opposition party leaders later voiced their disappointment at the outcome.
When asked on Wednesday whether the NSP regretted not fielding a team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, Mr Ng said no. NSP had been clear from the outset that it would focus on Sembawang and Tampines GRCs, he said.
The party last contested Marine Parade in 2011, fielding a team that included Mr Ng and Ms Nicole Seah, who later joined the Workers’ Party.
Ultimately, he said, parties have to draw the line between pushing for unity and making choices that align with its own strategy and what it believes is best for voters.
Parties need to have self-respect and remember why they joined politics in the first place, Mr Ng said. “We are here to serve the people. We are not here to play board games.”
GST ROLLBACK A “RADICAL” PROPOSAL: NSP CHIEF
Some parties have also proposed “radical” or “non-practical” policies, such as rolling back the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Mr Ng said.
The Progress Singapore Party in their election manifestos called for the GST to revert to 7 per cent. The Singapore Democratic Party likewise called for a decrease in the tax, with party chairman Paul Tambyah advocating for it to be brought back down to 7 per cent “at the very least”.
Parties often do not understand the impact of calling for a reduction of GST, Mr Ng said. People would want more reductions and ask why the tax cannot be further lowered to 5, 4 or 3 per cent, he added.
Instead, NSP’s approach is to explore ways to increase revenue, such as obtaining higher net returns on investments through entities like GIC, and channel those gains back into infrastructure and social programmes without compromising Singapore’s long-term reserves.
Reflecting on feedback gathered from residents, Mr Ng said that in addition to cost-of-living concerns, some elderly residents also spoke to NSP candidates during their walkabouts about having to care for grandchildren while their children are at work.
To address such issues, NSP is proposing to build a multigenerational town in Sembawang, aimed at fostering closer family ties by leveraging the strengths of different generations. Mr Ng said a detailed proposal – titled “Sembawang, the lifestyle destination” – will be released later this week.
A separate plan for Tampines GRC, the other constituency NSP is contesting, is also in the works. A multi-cornered contest in this hotly contested GRC will see NSP go up against the People’s Action Party, the Workers’ Party and the People’s Power Party.
