SINGAPORE: The National Solidarity Party (NSP) is intending to field a mix of old-timers and new faces in what looks to be a hotly contested Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the upcoming General Election, said party president Reno Fong on Sunday (Mar 16).
He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the party’s first walkabout since the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) released its report detailing electoral boundary changes on Mar 11.
Mr Fong said that he and NSP vice-president Mohd Ridzwan Mohammad will contest in the constituency, and that the pair would be joined by three new faces.
He added that the party is “giving (these new candidates) some time to warm up”, and they will be introduced “when the time is right”.
Mr Fong and Mr Ridzwan represented NSP in Tampines GRC in the 2020 General Election. Then, the party received 33.59 per cent of the vote, with the People’s Action Party (PAP) winning the constituency with 66.41 per cent of votes.
On Sunday afternoon, about 20 NSP party members and volunteers spent some time walking the ground around Our Tampines Hub and the Darul Ghufran Mosque.
They were joined by several members of the NSP’s coalition partners – from the Singapore People’s Party (SPP), Red Dot United (RDU), and the Singapore United Party (SUP) – who were there to offer support and distribute coalition materials.
WILL NOT RULE OUT GOING INTO FOUR-CORNERED FIGHT “IF NECESSARY”
Tampines GRC is likely to be keenly contested in the upcoming election.
In February, People’s Power Party (PPP) secretary-general Goh Meng Seng had staked an early claim to the ward, announcing his party’s intention to contest in the constituency in the 2025 General Election.
On the possibility of being caught in a three- or four-cornered fight, Mr Fong said: “NSP has all along said we would only contest in areas we have contested in (previously).
“So we do not discount going into a four-cornered fight if necessary. Because in every other election, if any party said they want to contest (the constituency and we don’t), in the end we’ll have nowhere to go.
“It will come to a time where there will be three- to four-cornered fights.”
When asked to comment on Mr Goh’s earlier remarks Mr Fong said: “He can say what he wants. From his comments from the last election, people know whether to take you seriously or not. We have nothing bad to say about him.
“It’s a free country, and he’s free to contest in any area he wants, but I don’t see him contesting in the same area or constituency for two times. He seems like he likes to move about.”
INTENTIONS TO CONTEST 5 GRCs, 2 SMCs IN GE2025
In a party press statement issued following the release of the EBRC report, NSP secretary-general Spencer Ng said the party was “deeply disappointed and perplexed” at the “continued gerrymandering” of Singapore’s electoral boundaries.
He added that NSP would continue to “plough forward through the obstacles”, while announcing the party’s intentions to contest in seven constituencies, including the new Tampines Changkat Single Member Constituency (SMC).
When asked about his thoughts on the new SMC being carved out of the current Tampines GRC, Mr Fong said: “For Changkat, it’s a stronghold of PAP all these years. That’s why they are very confident to have the piece cut out to be a single (member constituency).
“It is a very difficult ward. We have to admit that the grassroots there are very strong, and they have been living there for thirty to forty years.”
Still, Mr Fong said there remains a “good chance” that NSP will contest in the SMC, though the party would be “willing to give way to better candidates”.
On the new electoral boundaries delineated in the EBRC report, Mr Fong said: “As usual, nothing is fair.
“Some residents fall under a different GRC in every election. Would it help those living in this area to change from one ward to another every five years?”
He added that the party will continue to work with the other opposition parties to avoid three- or four-cornered fights where possible.
