When asked about the party ’s preparation for three-corner battles, Mr Ng said on Apr 20: “Let us not become disillusioned that the PAP may be easily dislodged. ”
However, the SUP group has spoken to Reform Party manager Mahaboob Baatsha, said Mr Zhu, and Mr Mahaboob confirmed that his party had no contest in Ang Mo Kio GRC again this year, CNA reported on Apr 6.
In the 2020 election, the PAP secured 71. 91 per cent of seats in Ang Mo Kio GRC against the Reform Party.
The Singapore Political Alliance was supposed to reveal if it would challenge Punggol GRC, which might be contested by the PAP and WP, on Tuesday. However, the group had cancelled a press event to attend a funeral.
Effects OF MULTI-CORNERED Beat DEPENDS ON WHICH OPPOSITION PARTY Events: Professionals
Authorities said there are many causes for the increased amount of multi-cornered conflicts.
Separate social observer Felix Tan said the “dramatic” shifts to political boundaries is one cause, with another being the news of some new prospects.
“Everyone feels that they have the opportunity to start afresh in these districts, ” he said. “Each of these social functions feel that no one political party has all the solutions to policymaking in Singapore. ”
Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser of the Institute of Policy Studies ( IPS) said that many opposition parties have confidence that the “ground is sweet for them”.
“The opposition environment seems to have morphed into events that see themselves as more or less equally credible based on their own significance in the districts they consider themselves to have a major hold, ” he told CNA.
SMU’s Assoc Prof Tan said while there will be more multi-cornered battles than previous votes, many may not materialise.
He noted that such events are more likely to result in SMCs and in the northern half of Singapore, regions where the WP is unlikely to battle.
“ Where WP is involved, the opposition vote will assuredly and considerably coalesce around it. This vote pool behind the WP could result in the various opposition group coming a distant second and losing the election payments, ” he said.
He added that in a situation where the difference between the two opposition parties is “not clear”, the opposition voting may get split between both parties. Such a situation may pave the way for a “comfortable win for the PAP”.
While Dr Tan said multi-cornered conflicts have made Singapore’s opposition environment “really messy”, it can also be seen as a indicator that more people are becoming earnestly engaged in politics.
“ In a democracy, you tend to see this kind of active participation of political events. There seems to be more folks being involved in politics because they want to play a part in deciding or charting Singapore’s manner. ”
When asked about how the increase in multi-cornered battles has changed the communications of opposition cohesion, Dr Tan said that” there’s little unity in the opposition parties. It’s each for themselves. At the end of the day, politics is a greedy game”, he said.
Dr Tan added that the PAP would have to “strengthen its main ” and get the right people into their staff, and the same goes for WP.
“They are so far the strongest opposition group. They have maintained a direct amongst all the opposition parties, and they need to proceed with that result, ” he said.
“So to get more credible people into their group would be something really important for them, ” Dr Tan added.
More reporting by Ang Hwee Min, Davina Tham and Abigail Ng