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Reform Party-SDA alliance off for now, says Reform Party's Kenneth Jeyaretnam
By Hetty Musfirah | Posted: 08 May 2010 1117 hrs
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Singapore Democratic Alliance
SINGAPORE: The much-touted alliance between the opposition Reform Party and the Singapore Democratic Alliance is off for now.
Reform Party leader, Kenneth Jeyaretnam, said this in an interview with MediaCorp, after the party's first annual conference on Saturday evening.
The Singapore Democratic Alliance's central executive committee led by Chiam See Tong held a meeting on Friday evening.
They reportedly discussed what's said to be 11 conditions laid down by the Reform Party before it joined the alliance with SDA.
And on Saturday, the Reform Party's members gave their in-principle approval to push ahead with negotiations.
But it seems talks will now be put on hold after the SDA said it was abandoning the list of 11 conditions.
This was confirmed by the Secretary General of the Singapore Democratic Alliance, Desmond Lim.
On this, Mr Jeyaretnam said he was completely mystified as to what has happened.
He claims the 11 points had actually been agreed with the SDA and its leader Chiam See Tong.
He said: "I can only conclude that Mr Chiam did not have the agreement of the SDA when he entered into negotiations with me. We won't be conducting any further negotiations with the SDA because we're not entering into negotiations with an organisation that leaks confidential documents to the press."
But Mr Jeyeratnam said such an alliance is still “possible” though “not very likely”.
And that without the alliance, the Reform Party can stand on its own.
The Reform Party also unveiled its first batch of candidates for the next General Election due by February 2012.
Most were fresh faces except for 53-year-old Abdul Rahim Osman, who has contested in two elections under different parties.
He's also the sole non-graduate among the group which consists of two former civil servants Tony Tan and Hazel Poa.
The others are Alec Tok, artistic director for a New York-based theatre company, and Jeisilan Sivalingam, a process improvement manager.
The party said it's targeting to contest in two Group Representation Constituencies and two Single Member Constituency.
Among those on its primary list are West Coast GRC, Hong Kah GRC and Toa Payoh-Bishan GRC.
The party said it will wait for the election boundaries report before making a clear decision in which wards to contest. - CNA/vm
Home ›
Singapore News
Reform Party-SDA alliance off for now, says Reform Party's Kenneth Jeyaretnam
By Hetty Musfirah | Posted: 08 May 2010 1117 hrs
Photos 1 of 1
Singapore Democratic Alliance
SINGAPORE: The much-touted alliance between the opposition Reform Party and the Singapore Democratic Alliance is off for now.
Reform Party leader, Kenneth Jeyaretnam, said this in an interview with MediaCorp, after the party's first annual conference on Saturday evening.
The Singapore Democratic Alliance's central executive committee led by Chiam See Tong held a meeting on Friday evening.
They reportedly discussed what's said to be 11 conditions laid down by the Reform Party before it joined the alliance with SDA.
And on Saturday, the Reform Party's members gave their in-principle approval to push ahead with negotiations.
But it seems talks will now be put on hold after the SDA said it was abandoning the list of 11 conditions.
This was confirmed by the Secretary General of the Singapore Democratic Alliance, Desmond Lim.
On this, Mr Jeyaretnam said he was completely mystified as to what has happened.
He claims the 11 points had actually been agreed with the SDA and its leader Chiam See Tong.
He said: "I can only conclude that Mr Chiam did not have the agreement of the SDA when he entered into negotiations with me. We won't be conducting any further negotiations with the SDA because we're not entering into negotiations with an organisation that leaks confidential documents to the press."
But Mr Jeyeratnam said such an alliance is still “possible” though “not very likely”.
And that without the alliance, the Reform Party can stand on its own.
The Reform Party also unveiled its first batch of candidates for the next General Election due by February 2012.
Most were fresh faces except for 53-year-old Abdul Rahim Osman, who has contested in two elections under different parties.
He's also the sole non-graduate among the group which consists of two former civil servants Tony Tan and Hazel Poa.
The others are Alec Tok, artistic director for a New York-based theatre company, and Jeisilan Sivalingam, a process improvement manager.
The party said it's targeting to contest in two Group Representation Constituencies and two Single Member Constituency.
Among those on its primary list are West Coast GRC, Hong Kah GRC and Toa Payoh-Bishan GRC.
The party said it will wait for the election boundaries report before making a clear decision in which wards to contest. - CNA/vm
