The second round of opposition party talks concluded on Aug. 6, 2015, without the Workers’ Party being present.

Nine other parties at the meeting unveiled the constituencies they will be contesting in the coming General Election.

MacPherson SMC, Potong Pasir SMC, Ang Mo Kio GRC and Marine Parade GRC are likely to face multi-cornered fights.

The debate over who would run in MacPherson and Marine Parade GRC has not been settled between the Workers Party (WP) and National Solidarity Party (NSP) -- but NSP is still keen to reach out to WP to see if things could be worked out.

NSP acting secretary-general Hazel Poa had received an email from WP’s Sylvia Lim, saying that the WP will not attend the second meeting as they had made quite clear their intentions previously.

“Well obviously there is a clash of interest, but in the light of opposition unity, we would still like to try to reach out to see if we can work out a compromise,” Poa said. She declined to comment on specifics. “You just have to leave us and Workers' Party to work it out."

NSP president Sebastian Teo told The Straits Times: "(WP) said they will take Marine Parade and give up MacPherson (to us). But if we go to Marine Parade, then they will not give up MacPherson."

Reform Party (RP) chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who left a mere 10 minutes into the meeting, said that his party was happy with what they have achieved in the meeting, despite facing a potential three-cornered fight with Singaporeans First Party (SingFirst).

RP is looking to resolve the issue over Ang Mo Kio GRC through bilateral talks, Jeyaretnam added. SingFirst relinquished its claim on West Coast GRC during today’s talks.

Earlier, Jeyaretnam said that SingFirst had approached Roy Ngerng, who had declared earlier that he would be one of Reform Party’s candidates.

He also said he was not told about WP's no-show, and that there was no explanation.

“We understand that NSP knew last night (that WP would not be attending),” Jeyaretnam said, adding that the purpose of the meeting had been to resolve the potential three-corner fight in Marine Parade GRC. “All the other issues are secondary.”

SingFirst chief Tan Jee Say did not disclose if his party approached Ngerng, but said: “We talk all the time to various people, on various issues.”

“What happened is that somebody approached on behalf of us,” he added.

Former NSP secretary-general Tan Lam Siong, who is intending to contest Potong Pasir SMC as an independent candidate, was also present outside NSP headquarters to speak to the media. Tan said that there was no reason for him to step aside, unless he is given “a very, very good reason”.

Tan said that he was not "treated like an equal", but was open to what the parties have to tell him. "I’m all for trying to have a unified stand, but at the same time we have to be fair to the voters,” he added.

Tan said that he had not been in contact with Singapore People’s Party’s Lina Chiam, who contested at Potong Pasir SMC during the last General Election. Chiam herself was not present at the meeting, and SPP representatives declined to comment about Tan’s contest.

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