The interesting topic of alliance between political parties

This article of mine was published in the Temasek Review under the title “An alliance between Singapore opposition parties: a dream too far?“

When Mr Chiam See Tong explored the possibility of an alliance with Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam from the Reform Party to contest in a GRC, it represented an interesting development.

The GRC concept of electoral contest is a uniquely Singapore phenomenon per se, whose outcome is based on the British first-past-the-post system, whereby the party with the majority of votes will be the winner-who-takes-all. The scenario of an alliance* of opposition parties contesting multiple seats at a GRC has never happened before, whilst the alliance of PAP with another party is an impossibility.

Mr Chiam See Tong himself is the leader of Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), an alliance* of political parties comprising the Singapore Malay National Organization, Singapore People’s Party and Singapore Justice Party under one umbrella. The event of SDA allying with the Reform Party is essentially the alliance of an alliance with another opposition party.

One may ask: Is an alliance between opposition parties even tenable? A good starting point will be to explore the political ideologies of the parties using the examples of the Singapore Democratic Alliance and the Reform Party. To begin, both parties are supporters of democratic ideologies in celebration of diversity and inclusiveness.

Chiam believes that a multi-party system is needed for democracy to exist in Singapore. He said during the General Elections 2006 that “a vibrant and cosmopolitan Singapore needs creativity of the mind” and that “these can only flourish in an atmosphere of freedom and an environment where there is no fear.” He is supportive of a free Singapore that allows for the expression of multiplicity of views “necessary for the social, cultural and political well-being of the people”.

The Reform Party has similar beliefs. Its ideals as can be found on its Wikipedia page include “a people-oriented diverse and inclusive community with full participation and freedom of expression”. Hence, both parties complement each other in terms of political ideologies.

It goes without saying that an alliance of political parties with similar ideologies will allow the latter to expound on their ideals during the elections, as compared to those that differ.

An alliance can be a double-edged sword in a certain sense. A political party may choose to pursue defense and education issues as part of its main agenda for the elections. Its counterpart, however, may choose to focus on healthcare and housing issues as their electoral agenda.

An alliance between the two can be advantageous owing to their ability to portray a diverse take on the issues. In a certain sense, a wide net can be casted to reach out to a wide range of voters who accord different priorities to main issues.

Parents wishing to register their kids in Primary schools for instance may be interested to hear any interesting proposals that will improve the registration process, whilst the senior citizens may place high priority on healthcare policies proposals concerning elderly care.

On the other hand, cognitive dissonance forms another major obstacle especially where political ideologies and approaches to different policies are concerned.

A party that leans especially to the right may encounter difficulties aligning with parties to the left without portraying a sort of cognitive dissonance among supporters of each faction. Even when it comes to perspectives on specific policies, different positions may pose a disconcerting barrier to an alliance. For instance, Mr Justin Ong from the Central Executive Committee of the Reform Party supports the reduction of our defense budget.

On the other hand, Miss Sylvia Lim in an earlier interview with myself was of the standpoint that the government should stick to its current fiscal discipline. Sylvia felt that defense and homeland security are criticial, and advocated an increase in investment of resources for local policing, which have been depleted for counter-terrorism efforts. Thus, in the event of a hypothetical alliance, reconsciliation between such differing viewpoints may prove tricky.

An alliance comprising a good mix of personalities may be able to improve on the extent of its outreach. Different voters warm up to different political personalities. It is not difficult for Teochew-speaking voters to warm up to a teochew-speaking candidate like Mr Low Thia Khiang.

If there is another candidate who can speak fluent hokkien, it may not be difficult for hokkien-speaking voters to warm up to him. A hypothetical alliance involving Mr Low and the hokkien-speaking candidate would maximize the degree of outreach among the different dialect groups.

The option of an alliance can also be explored as a solution to prevent a three-cornered (or more) fight. In the past, multiple- (three or more) cornered fights have drastically affected the votes of the competing opposition parties. However, it is interesting to note (according to the elections.gov.sg website) that ever since the GRC was introduced in 1988, there have been no multiple-cornered fights for a GRC, which is an encouraging sight from the opposition’s perspective.

However, different opposition parties may have set their sights on the same GRC prior to the next elections judging by the patterns of their walkabout. If the parties are keen on contesting the targeted GRC, the alliance option should be considered seriously.

IF (and a BIG IF) an alliance is able to capture a GRC, it will signal the beginning of a close collaboration between the candidates. The team members will eventually have to come up with a system of managing GRC funds, and allocate the appropriate resources to areas within the GRC that are in need of upgrading, refurbishment and other forms of amenities. Such a long-term collaboration will present another set of challenges, which at this point is overly premature to elaborate on.

The topic of a potential alliance between opposition parties in a GRC fight is an interesting one to contemplate on. Not all parties will have a similar enough platform to form an alliance, but that does not mean the stakeholders will not be able to work anything out.

The obstacles to the formation of an alliance cannot be ignored, and careful planning must be invested to maximize the advantages and minimize the pitfalls. That being said, the fact remains that if an alliance of opposition parties (possibly in future) in a GRC fight is able to produce good results, such will be a clear demonstration of the opposition’s ability to work together effectively as a unified front.

*Footnotes: Thanks to commentator Btan, I will perhaps make clear the definition of “alliance” in the context of this article. The Singapore Democratic Alliance in my opinion is a coalition party comprising opposition parties that come under one umbrella. The word “alliance” in the context of this article refers to the partnership of opposition parties that do not come under an umbrella. For instance, in the example of an “alliance” between the Singapore Democratic Alliance and the Reform Party, both entities do not come under one umbrella, but will ally with each other to contest a GRC assuming if both sides agree to a partnership.