The second day of Chinese New Year is a tradition for some People Action Party (PAP) politicians to organise gatherings to thank their supporters and grassroots leaders.

An example is Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

PM Lee would host his annual CNY open house to thank grassroots leaders and volunteers from Ang Mo Kio GRC and Sengkang West.

And Tan Cheng Bock, a former PAP politician, is taking a leaf out of the PAP's book.

The 2011 presidential election runner-up held a CNY open house that was well-attended by opposition politicians and civil society activists.

The who's who of opposition camp

Tan's CNY guest list included the who's who of the opposition camp.

Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh and Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan:

People’s Voice Party leader Lim Tean:

Singapore People’s Party Vice Chairman Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss:

People’s Power Party secretary-general Goh Meng Seng:Secretary-general of Singapore Democratic Alliance Desmond Lim and former PE candidate Tan Kin Lian:

Workers' Party represents

What is significant though is the presence of a few WP leaders.

Besides Pritam, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Dennis Tan and ex-NCMP Gerald Giam were also there at the gathering.

Even if they were attending Tan's CNY party in their private capacity, their presence is significant in opposition political circles.

This is because Pritam, Tan and Giam represent part of the new WP leadership.

They are Central Executive Committee members who hold the roles of Secretary-General, Organising Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

It was only as recent as July last year that WP preferred to be absent in a seven opposition political parties pow-wow that included Tan.

In addressing Tan's July 28, 2018 meeting with opposition parties, WP told Mothership.sg:

“WP is going through a leadership transition and is focused on organisation building to better serve Singaporeans.”

Is WP changing its approach towards other opposition parties in next GE?

During GE 2015, WP adopted a cautious approach in its engagement with other opposition parties.

In a crucial meeting between 11 opposition parties in 2015 to avoid three-cornered fights, WP sent Aljunied GRC MP Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, then NCMP Yee Jenn and NCMP Daniel Goh.

Then Sec-Gen Low Thia Khiang and Chairman Sylvia Lim were absent.

WP was also not present in the subsequent meeting.

In other words, there is a perception that WP of the past preferred to differentiate itself from the rest of the opposition parties.

After all, they are the only opposition party with seats in the parliament.

With such friendliness shown towards other opposition parties, is WP under Pritam's new leadership adopting a different approach?

In his first significant address to the whole of WP on Jan. 13, 2019, Pritam told his members:

"Many members shared that all political parties in Singapore including the Workers’ Party have to operate in a more complex political environment going forward, with Singaporeans today hosting many different aspirations and expectations."

Indeed, the political environment is getting more complex and perhaps the need to keep the "WP brand" distinct is not mutually exclusive to working with other opposition parties.

With nine seats in parliament, WP is more than 20 seats away from achieving Pritam's medium term aim for WP to win one-third of parliament seats.

And it may be prudent for Pritam to adopt a more collaborative approach with other opposition parties.

Pritam said in the same speech:

"As the years went by and having had a chance to review my understanding of Singapore politics as an MP, it became my firm belief and conviction that Singapore must aspire towards a genuinely diverse Parliament with at least 1/3 of the elected seats in in opposition hands -- regardless which party is running the country and which party or parties are in the opposition".

Pritam did not mention that the opposition parties holding these 1/3 seats in Parliament must be WP MPs in the short term.

This leaves the room open for other smaller opposition parties to partner WP in the upcoming GE.

Top photo from Tan Cheng Bock Facebook page

 

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