SINGAPORE — A day after seven small opposition parties here proposed that he leads them as part of a new coalition, former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock said that he was open to the idea but stopped short of agreeing to take up the offer.

“Right now, the seven parties have asked for my help. They are not the only ones who have spoken to me. I think I must help but in what capacity, I have not decided,” he said in a Facebook post on Sunday afternoon (July 29).

The seven parties are the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), National Solidarity Party (NSP), People’s Power Party (PPP), Democratic Progressive Party, Reform Party, Singaporeans First, and an unregistered party called Peoples Voice, which former NSP chief Lim Tean has applied to form.

“I am now 78 years old. I may only have a short time to mentor a team to work for the good of the nation,” wrote Dr Tan.

“This is a small window of opportunity, a moment for ubah (‘change’ in Malay). I want to put my last years to good use. I want to pass all that I have acquired and learned in the political arena to the next generation,” he added.

"I would regret it if I had the chance to make a difference, but did nothing.”

The idea of the smaller opposition parties forming a new coalition and having Dr Tan as a leader was mooted on Saturday afternoon during a working lunch chaired by SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan at his party’s premises. The invite was sent out about one and a half weeks ago.

Opposition figures told TODAY that they picked Dr Tan, a former Member of Parliament of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) for 26 years, as he is seen as a “unifying” force and political veteran who can command respect among them. 

They added that Dr Tan has also been meeting up with a number of them, such as Mr Lim and Dr Chee, to offer advice recently.

According to SDP, during Saturday’s meeting, Dr Tan told the parties’ representatives: “If you want me to lead, then we must think of country first. If we go in, we must go in as a team.”

Dr Tan’s personal assistant, Mr Alex Tan Tiong Hee, has confirmed that Dr Tan is not a member of any political party.

On why he was present at the meeting on Saturday, Dr Tan said he merely turned up as he was invited to be an observer and to share his thoughts on how the parties can do better than in the last General Election (GE) in 2015.

“These parties have something in common: They are all political veterans without a single seat in Parliament for the last decade. They had a frank discussion on their shortcomings and aspirations… They know they have fallen short of the last GE,” he said.

“I told them that to do better, Singapore’s interest must always come first, ahead of self and even their own party’s interest.”

This might entail having some opposition leaders “stand down and serve from the backroom if it is good for the country”, Dr Tan pointed out.

Dr Tan nevertheless defended the opposition leaders of the seven parties on Sunday, rebutting political commentator Derek da Cunha who had said that they are “third, fourth, fifth rate politicians, and that if I mix with them, my reputation will be tarnished”.

“I am curious what yardstick the commentator has used to measure these men,” Dr Tan said.

“I believe that the men and women I met yesterday, were more than willing to make way for better men and women who would stand in their place. They have guts. They have put themselves out there. That is sufficient for the moment.”

Dr da Cunha responded in a Facebook post on Sunday evening to say that the yardstick he used was "rationality and decency".

On Saturday, Dr Chee had cited Dr Tan’s “experience and leadership” as reasons his party was confident that he would be able to lead a coalition.

Speaking to TODAY, PPP secretary-general Goh Meng Seng said Dr Tan would “make a significant impact” on the smaller opposition parties.

“Dr Tan seems to be a figure who can garner support of all factions from the opposition side, plus the fence-sitters among voters,” Mr Goh said.

On Dr Tan’s current non-answer, Mr Goh said: “He is keeping his options open I believe. (But I sense) there is a certain willingness for him to actually take a leading role.”

Mr Goh had wished for a coalition since 2015 to present a “viable alternative” to PAP’s rule as “there is an urgent need to change the government” but “me alone and any other party alone cannot do it”, he said. 

“We will have to be very realistic about that. We don’t have a lack of talents, but we are just scattered around.”

To this end – even if Dr Tan agrees to lead them – some opposition leaders have voiced in Saturday’s meeting that they want to continue engaging the Workers’ Party to “convince them to come onboard”, Mr Goh revealed.

The Workers’ Party (WP), Singapore People’s Party and Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) were invited for the luncheon as well but did not attend.

When contacted, WP’s non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Daniel Goh, who is chair of its media team, did not address the issue of partnering the other opposition parties and Dr Tan directly.

Associate Professor Goh would only said that the party “is going through a leadership transition and is focused on organisation-building to better serve Singaporeans”.

Meanwhile, SDA chairman Desmond Lim said he was in favour of the idea of Dr Tan leading the opposition.

Mr Lim explained that he was not able to respond to the invitation for Saturday’s meeting in time as he was overseas at Saipan, an island in the Pacific Ocean, where telephone reception was bad.

“Certainly we have to give him due respect in terms of his seniority in Singapore politics,” he said, referring to Dr Tan.

“With his background and social status, he is more than qualified to play the unifying and leading role.”

SPP did not respond to TODAY’s queries.

Political observers said many questions remain on the proposed pact by the smaller opposition parties.

Singapore Management University law professor Eugene Tan said that such an alliance, if it actually materialises, will “matter electorally” only if it can form an electoral understanding with the WP, which has six MPs and three NCMPs.

“While this proposed coming together can help make for a less fragmented opposition landscape, the absence of WP as part of the alliance will significantly reduce its potential impact,” Assoc Prof Tan said.

“Many (of the parties involved) are very young parties which run the risk of becoming irrelevant politically, so this coming together could be a shot in the arm of sorts for them.”