The Workers' Party (WP) held their first online talk show on Wednesday (July 1) evening.

The first episode of 'Hammer Show', which was titled: "Why should you vote for the WP?", will take the place of the traditional physical rallies during this campaigning period.

The show was moderated by incumbent Aljunied GRC members of parliament (MPs) Pritam Singh and Sylvia Lim.

Three candidates— Abdul Shariff Aboo Kassim, Chua Kheng Wee and Dennis Tan—  were part of this talk show.

Shariff is a candidate for East Coast GRC, Chua is running in Sengkang GRC, while Tan is running at Hougang SMC.

However, three other candidates— Nicole Seah, Jamus Lim and Gerald Giam— made cameos on the show through short clips in which they introduced themselves and some issues they stood for.

3 reasons why it is hard for oppositions parties to win seat: Tan

About 11 minutes into the show, Pritam asked WP candidate Tan about some of the reasons why WP has not been able to make headway in election in close to six decades.

According to Tan, who was a Non-constituency Member of the Parliament of Singapore (NCMP) since 2015, there are three key reasons why it is difficult for WP or any opposition parties to win.

1. People think their vote is not secret

The first reason Tan highlighted was that some people worry that their vote is not a secret.

He assured viewers that this is not true and that everyone's vote is "definitely a secret".

2. GRC system

The second reason he highlighted was the Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs).

Tan said that with the GRC system, "new or weaker PAP candidates are put together with more or better known ministers".

3. Manipulating electoral boundaries

The third reason he brought up was gerrymandering, which is the manipulation of electoral boundaries to favour a party or produce a desired result.

Tan explained that the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) changes electoral boundaries "very shortly before an election" and highlighted that it wastes the groundwork done by WP.

He also highlighted that constituencies in which WP had done well in previous elections are merged with GRCs, and that this is linked to how the EBRC reports directly to the Prime Minister's Office.

He gave the example of Fengshan SMC, which has been drawn in and out of East Coast GRC, with no reasons being given for the changes.

Here's the transcript of the above-mentioned section from the video:

Pritam: What do you see as some of the reasons why the WP was not able to make more headway in elections over this almost six decades?

Tan: It is indeed difficult for WP or any opposition parties to win seats for many reasons. One, some people think that your vote is not secret. That is not true. Your vote is definitely a secret.

Two, we have the GRC system, where new or weaker PAP candidates are put together with more or better known ministers.

And three, the EBRC changes boundaries very shortly before an election wasting groundwork that we have done. And the EBRC reports directly to the Prime Minister's Office effectively ensuring that constituencies that WP had done well in previous elections are merged with GRCs.

For example, Joo Chiat, Punggol East, and Fengshan. And less recently, Eunos GRC, Cheng San GRC, and even Aljunied GRC in 2006. No reasons have ever been given for the change. If I am a Fengshan resident, I will be very insulted that in two consecutive elections, Fengshan was drawn out of East Coast GRC, and then drawn back into East Coast GRC, with no reasons given.

This is, to me, clearly a case of gerrymandering, and in some other first-world countries, gerrymandering is illegal.

'One more PAP MP does not make any difference, but one more WP MP will': Tan

Towards the end of the video, Tan also added that "it is not the right time to give the PAP a strong mandate", due to "uncertain leadership by PAP's 4G leadership" during the Covid-19 crisis.

He added that "it is actually the right time to elect more WP MPs into parliament to scrutinize the government" during the current crisis and ended his closing remarks with this quote:

"Remember, one more PAP MP does not make any difference, but one more WP MP will make a lot of difference."

You can watch the full 40-minute show here: