Session III - The Future of the parties

Chaired by Gillian and panelists included Derek da Cunha, Indranee Rajah, Sylvia Lim, Vincent Yeo and Chee Siok Chin.

Derek da Cunha:
- The 06 distribution of popular vote:
wp: 38.4%, sda: 32.5%, sdp: 23.2%, pap: 66.6%
- three themes: performance of the parties, issues and trends in SGP, prospects and trends of the parties
- SDP's fortunes are out of whack because of their loose canons.
- SDA's politics is gentlemanly because of Chiam ST
- WP seems to be doing all the right things, post-JBJ. There seems to be a "mainstreaming" of the WP this time around and if this keeps up, it could mean that the longtail event of WP taking over or at least being the 2nd party of a functional two-party parliament could be a reality.

Political Spectrum:

Left       center-left     centre-right

                                PAP

              WP

              SDA

SDP

Sylvia: "Worker's Party: Hope For The Future?"

2006: Pleasant Surprises:
- fate of SM Goh's "mission" - a disaster.
- open rejection of selective upgrading
- role of cyber community despite threat of illegality
- voter behaviour pre and post election

Awakening of politics in the population - forced to make a choice? Exercising the vote.

Vincent Yeo: SDA, exco member of National Solidarity Party: I just felt that he was rambling and really could not get a sense of what he was trying to propose except at the very end when he stated that the loose coalition of parties that form the SDA could be merged into one party for the next election. So, no more PKNS, NSP, and whoever else makes up the SDA. Probably a good thing.

Chee Siok Chin: SDP exco member. Are opposition political parties in control of their future? SDP's future uncertain because of the suit from the father and son team. She reported that at a NUSS event last week, she repeated the call for election reform citing the excessively unfair stacking of the field in favour of the PAP. Roadmap for Democracy: many areas for reform, 1) reform has to come from the people not from the ruling party. People have to work for reform. June 27th case on declaring 2006 elections null and void.

Indranee: people and policies. cyberspace? Disappointed (perhaps set my expectations too high) that there was nothing new in what she had to say. She is a 2nd term non-elected member of parliament - a WOMP (Walk Over MP) - ie, no moral right to the seat in parliament even if the law says she can.


Comment by Cherian George:
"A tale of two parties. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It used to be the best of times for sdp and worst of times for wp. those were the days. how it has changed! and dramatically too. hard to believe that it was all the doing the of the PAP and the media. Image can be fashioned not only be foisted upon you." This was in reponse to Siok Chin's comment that the compliant media made her and the SDP look like morons while the WP and others were not treated as harshly.