Dear Phouse
The party only wants to contest when ALL things are perfectly free and fair in the world of democracy. I would refer you to their own website hyperlinked below which states the following. In essence elections in itself in their view even if the opposition wins serves no purpose to ultimately defeating the PAP. I fundamentally disagree on that point and think it a load of bull.
yoursdp.org/index.php/the-party/why-we-do-what-we-do
''When the political process is democratic, when the media is free and pluralistic, and when opposition parties are allowed to freely campaign for votes, the SDP is confident that the majority of Singaporeans will vote for it and give us the chance to lead Singapore into an exciting and democratic future, one that is full of hope, security, and prosperity not just in material terms, but spiritual ones as well."
"Boycotting elections is a worthy gambit if all opposition parties would cooperate and take a united stand. Given present circumstances, however, this is unlikely to happen. But boycotting elections is only a part of a bigger strategy that is needed to reform our election system. What is even more important is that Singaporeans must be empowered to rid themselves of authoritarianism. In the meantime the Singapore Democrats will take part in elections because election rallies are an important opportunity to reach out and educate the people of the strengths of democracy. We will not stop there, however. The SDP will also urge the proactive use of non-violent action to work towards reforming the election system."
'It is important to add at this juncture that the PAP may allow a few more opposition MPs to be elected in future elections in order to counter the SDP’s strategy. When this happens, the PAP can then say that the election system is democratic, thus, negating the need for mass protests. But even if Parliament has a few more opposition members, how will that alter the decision-making process when the PAP overwhelmingly controls the house? The PAP can easily change the rules again in following elections and “win” back the seats they lost, and we’ll be back to square one. In the meantime, another 5 or 10 years would have passed and little would have changed.
Locke