Opposition should aim for a GRC win: Chiam
Loh Chee Kong
[email protected]IT IS a birthday wish Mr Chiam See Tong might happily make: Wresting a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) from the ruling party's grip in the upcoming General Election (GE).
.
Asked if the Opposition was confident of making history, the chairman of the coalition Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), who turns 71 this Sunday, said: "I really hope so. I think it is important to capture at least one GRC.
.
"The psychological effect will be tremendous. If one stronghold is toppled, the rest may just follow like falling dominoes."
.
After a whole day in Parliament,
Mr Chiam held a simple birthday dinner with his wife and close aides at a Potong Pasir coffeeshop last night before rushing off for his meet the people session.
.
On whether the Opposition should again employ the by-election strategy, he told Today: "I think the by-election strategy has been used more than once.
.
"It may not capture the imagination of the voters as much, but if we have the chance, we should mention it, because the People's Action Party really has no defence to the by-election strategy."
.
While he refused to divulge more details on what will be discussed at the Opposition parties' pow-wow at PKMS' Changi Road headquarters today, the Potong Pasir MP said: "We're trying to avoid a three-cornered fight. If we enter into one, we're only going to kill ourselves. We're not that stupid."
.
What of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's challenge to the Opposition to contest for all 84 Parliament seats up for grabs?
.
"We talked about it. I said, if you can reduce your deposit amount, we will consider it. In the last GE, each candidate had to pay $13,500 as a deposit. If you multiply that by 84, that would be more than a million dollars."
.
But the veteran MP can take a rest from all that this weekend — he and his wife plan to go away for a short birthday break.
