GE2015 – The opposition camp shaping up

There was a peace pipe meeting by the Indian Chiefs of the opposition camp to settle some ground rules to avoid a 3 corner fight in the coming GE. This is positive news to know that they would not be so reckless and be party spoilers by trying to fight to see who would not lose his deposit and trying to make every contest counts. Opposition parties that go into an election for the sake of being in an election, in 3 or 4 corner fights when their chances of winning or keeping their deposits are so slim reflects a mentality of stupidity that can be expected of no brainers. Or they could be the rumoured moles participating just to split the votes. You fight an election to win not for some personal ego or spurious reasons.

The NSP called for the pow wow, and hopefully everyone attended the meeting with a sincere heart, and did not go there wearing a mask to hide their real intent. Party spoilers and moles there will be, and they will appear at the right place and right time to prove their worth. And there is nothing the voters can do except to exercise their intelligence to vote them out, take them out of the equation like in the Punggol East by election. It is not easy in a GE as the party spoilers and moles would not wear a badge to be identified.

Yesterday the media highlighted the possibility of more 3 corner fights as more opposition parties are staking their claims in hotly contested GRCs. Marine Parade, Tanjong Pagar, Jurong, West Coast, Holland Bukit Timah were the few mentioned. It was also reported that WP would be contesting in 5 GRCs, SingFirst in 4 and  Reform Party 2. SDP is likely to put up 3 or 4 GRCs, NSP maybe 2 or 3, and SPP, DPP and the rest 1 or 2 each.

With 16 GRCs available, it would mean that every GRC would be contested this time and with more to spare or to be muddled in 3 corner fights. The SMCs would all be contested and there will be no walkovers. What these mean is that statistically there will be enough opposition candidates to cause an upset and a change of govt. With all the seats contested, and if there is a major ground shift, a coalition govt is a possible reality.

What is really important is that the three major parties that could put up a serious challenge with equally good candidates, ie WP, SDP and SingFirst, already could cause an upset by contesting 12 or 13 of the 16 GRCs. 9 GRCs will be enough to form a coalition govt if the SMCs are evenly split.

Would there be a new govt on Sept 13? Time to start thinking. The ball is round this time. Despite the odds, all the planning and scheming and gerrymandering, if George Yeo could be taken down, if Ah Lian and Ah Huat could send the top talents packing, anything can happen now. And who knows, Roy Ngerng could end up the dragon slayer. And if And Mo Kio and Tanjong Pagar go to the opposition, it will be all over.

This GE is going to be more unpredictable. One thing for sure, there will be more GRCs going and more ministers would be out of jobs by the sunrise on Sep 13.