June 24, 2020, 10:09 AM
The Reform Party (RP) will not be contesting West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the upcoming general election, possibly paving the way for the Progress Singapore Party to stand and avoid a three-cornered fight there.
In a Facebook post in the early hours of June 24, the Reform Party announced that they will not contest West Coast GRC after discussions with Tan Cheng Bock and Leong Mun Wai.
The post was also shared on the Facebook page of Kenneth Jeyaretnam, RP's Secretary-General.
Avoid three-cornered fight
Jeyaretnam said that the "greater cause" was opposition unity, to contest where parties had the "greatest chance of winning seats", and that he wished to avoid three-cornered fights.
Jeyaretnam also added that Tan has a "tough fight on his hands", and said that they did not wish to "hinder his progress".
In GE2015, RP stood in West Coast, led by Jeyaretnam, and took 21.43 per cent of the vote. They faced a People's Action Party team that included Lim Hng Kiang and S. Iswaran.
Negotiations with PSP
Jeyaretnam said that while he did not wish to reveal "precise details" of the negotiation, he claimed that PSP had agreed to withdraw from various contests they were reportedly "eyeing", in exchange for RP ceding West Coast.
He also claimed that PSP would contest "far fewer seats" than anticipated.
Jeyaretnam added that RP accepted PSP's proposal with the "exception of Yishun GRC", which RP will not contest either.
Jeyaretnam added: "We have selected the areas we will contest based on moving aside for Dr Tan’s A team and secondly according to our probability of winning due to our familiarity with the ground and the familiarity of the residents with us."
This would suggest that the PSP is planning to send an "A team" to contest West Coast.
Where is RP standing?
With West Coast out of the picture for RP, it now intends to only contest the following constituencies:
- Ang Mo Kio GRC
- Yio Chu Kang SMC
- Radin Mas SMC
You can see RP's post below:
Related story:
Top image from Ken Jeyaretnam and Tan Cheng Bock's Facebook pages.
If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram to get the latest updates.