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SPP, DPP send out mixed messages on Bishan-Toa Payoh slate

SINGAPORE — Fissures have appeared within the mooted joint bid by two opposition parties to challenge in Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency, as both camps today (Aug 16) put out conflicting messages about the make-up of the combined slate at separate walkabouts they each held.

Singapore People’s Party chairman Lina Chiam (centre) and her team during a walkabout at Sennett Estate. Photo: Valerie Koh

Singapore People’s Party chairman Lina Chiam (centre) and her team during a walkabout at Sennett Estate. Photo: Valerie Koh

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SINGAPORE — Fissures have appeared within the mooted joint bid by two opposition parties to challenge in Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency, as both camps today (Aug 16) put out conflicting messages about the make-up of the combined slate at separate walkabouts they each held.

Speaking to reporters today after visiting Sennett Estate, which falls under the Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency, Singapore People’s Party (SPP) chairman Lina Chiam said an agreement has been struck for her party to take three out of five spots on the team contesting in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) representatives will be in the minority “because if you were to go under the banner of the SPP, the SPP should have three candidates”, she said.

“That is the ideal situation and that is what my Central Executive Committee wants. But having said that, we want the best team, so we have to be practical and see which candidates are best suited,” she added. In addition, the candidates sent by the DPP will have to join the SPP as members and follow its Constitution, Mrs Chiam said, adding that a Memorandum of Understanding is being drafted for the arrangement.

Asked about the conditions after a walkabout he led at Toa Payoh Lorong 4, DPP secretary-general Benjamin Pwee painted a different picture: “Mrs Chiam and I agreed that we would together pick the best five of our combined candidates, and that it would not be a numbers game. We encourage Mrs Chiam and SPP to be open to discussing who will stand on both sides, and not insist on a certain number from which side. 

“We have been waiting for a response from Mrs Chiam’s side, and do not want to see our partnership get affected or break up. But we are prepared to fight Bishan-Toa Payoh on our own as DPP if we cannot (reach an) agreement with the SPP on the five candidates on the joint-team.”

Earlier today, things seemed rosy as Mr Pwee said he and DPP chairman Mohamad Hamim Aliyas will likely be members of the combined team. Last Friday, he also mooted Harvard graduate Nadine Yap as a potential team-mate. The trio were accompanied by Mr Chia Ser Lin and Ms Noraini Yunus — a National Solidarity Party candidate in Tampines GRC four years ago — at the walkabout today. He also said both parties have a campaign coordination team in place, made up of members from both sides, that is organising all walkabouts. 

“So (yesterday) night, we did a walkabout in Toa Payoh, our SPP friends were there as well. We divided our manpower, so some of our people are over at Potong Pasir supporting Mrs Chiam (this morning) on her walkabout as well.”

Mr Pwee was part of SPP chief Chiam See Tong’s team in Bishan-Toa Payoh during the 2011 General Election (GE) but left the party one year later, citing differences in leadership style and direction. Mr Hamim is also a former SPP member. 

Mrs Chiam said the coming GE will be the last run at the polls for her as age is catching up — she turned 66 in June — and she would like to spend more time with her family. Her husband is Mr Chiam, the 80-year-old Opposition veteran who held on to Potong Pasir SMC for 27 years until his failed venture to Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in the 2011 GE. They have a daughter, Camilla, who is 39. “I’ll still stay with the party and be a mentor to other members,” she said.

Having lost in Potong Pasir SMC to the PAP’s Sitoh Yih Pin by a paper-thin 114 votes in the 2011 GE,

Mrs Chiam is facing the prospect of a multi-way fight for her final electoral battle, as independent candidate Tam Lam Siong has expressed an interest in throwing his hat into the ring.

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