Chee confident about candidates as SDP visits Sembawang, Bukit Panjang

SINGAPORE — Despite the loss of star candidates after the last General Election in 2011, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) remains confident it will be able to put forward a strong team for the next election, said party chief Chee Soon Juan.

Speaking to reporters after a walkabout at Marsiling Food Centre yesterday, Dr Chee was coy about new faces in his party. “For sure, this is going to be something to watch. We’re going to be able to put up a very good slate of candidates. We’ve got new people coming in,” he said. “People are getting excited about our message and … they want to be a part of this. We feel very good and very confident at this stage.”

Led by Dr Chee and his sister Chee Siok Chin, the SDP held its first walkabout yesterday, two weeks after launching its campaign for the next General Election, which must be held by January 2017.

In attendance were about 50 members and volunteers, who distributed the party’s newsletter The New Democrat and spoke with residents at several food centres and markets in Marsiling, Fajar and Bangkit. These places fall within Sembawang GRC and the single-seat Bukit Panjang — two constituencies in which the SDP contested during the 2011 GE and plans to stand in again.

Since 2011, the SDP has lost several high-profile members, among them Mr Tan Jee Say and Dr Ang Yong Guan, who set up their own political party, Singaporeans First. Ms Michelle Lee, who contested in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC under the SDP banner, has been seen at Workers’ Party events, while Dr Vincent Wijeysingha resigned in 2013 to focus on civil activism.

The party has also announced that it would release an economic policy paper next month and a party manifesto in May. It also plans to introduce potential candidates in October.

Assuring that his party would not lose steam despite its early start, Dr Chee said: “It is a cause, and causes are timeless. There is no time frame to it. We keep going.”