Workers' Party

The Workers' Party of Singapore (Template:Zh, often referred to simply as "The Workers' Party" or "WP") is a centre-left opposition political party in Singapore. The party currently has six elected seats in Parliament, with the party's Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, Chairman Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Pritam Singh serving as Members of Parliament for the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, and Yaw Shin Leong serving as the Member of Parliament for Hougang.

The Workers' Party was founded by Singapore's former Chief Minister, David Marshall, in 1957. In 1981, the party's then-leader J.B. Jeyaretnam became the first opposition MP to be elected to Parliament since Singapore's independence in 1965, when he defeated the candidate of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) at a by-election in the constituency of Anson. He was re-elected at the 1984 general election, but subsequently lost his seat in Parliament in 1986 following a conviction for falsely accounting the party's funds (a conviction Jeyaretnam has always maintained was politically motivated). Worker's Party member Lee Siew Choh served as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) from 1988 to 1991. At the 1991 general election, Low Thia Khiang was elected as MP for Hougang. He was re-elected at the 1997, 2001 and 2006 general elections. Jeyaretnam returned to Parliament as an NCMP from 1997 to 2001, and Sylvia Lim has also served as an NCMP for the party from 2006 to 2011 when she became an elected Member of Parliament.

In recent years, The Workers' Party's candidates have worn a uniform of light blue shirts while campaigning to represent the party's links with the blue collar workers.

History

Founding

In 1956, Singapore's first Chief Minister, David Marshall, resigned following to the failed Merdeka Talks that had sought self-governance for Singapore. Initially he remained a backbencher in the Legislative Assembly for the Labour Front (the largest party in the assembly at the time), but he left the party in 1957 and founded the Worker's Party of Singapore. Marshall lost his seat in the assembly at the 1959 general election (in which the PAP became the majority party and the Worker's Party did not win any seats), but he returned in 1961 when he won a by-election in the constituency of Anson. The Worker's Party also won four seats in the 1957 City Council elections. However elected member Chang Yuen Tong resigned later that year, and in 1963 Marshall left the party. After that, the party did not enjoy any electoral success until the 1980s.

1965–1986

Singapore became independent in 1965, and at the first post-independence general election in 1968, the PAP won all 58 of the seats in Parliament after the main opposition party at the time, the Barisan Sosialis, boycotted the elections. The PAP maintained this 100% electoral record at the 1972, 1976 and 1980 general elections and all intervening by-elections up to 1981.

Having become a small and fairly insignificant party by the late-1960s, the Worker's Party was revived by a group of lawyers in 1971, led by J.B. Jeyaretnam, who became the party's Secretary-General.

In 1981, the Worker's Party became the first opposition party to win a seat in Parliament in post-independence Singapore when Jeyaretnam won a by-election in Anson. He defeated the PAP's Pang Kim Hin by 7,012 votes (51.9%) to 6,359 (47.1%), with a third candidate taking 131 votes (1.0%). He was re-elected as the constituency's MP at the 1984 general election, in which he defeated the PAP's Ng Pock Too by 9,909 votes (56.8%) to 7,533 (43.2%).

However two months after his re-election, Jeyaretnam was charged with falsely accounting the party's funds. In 1986, Senior District Judge Michael Khoo found him innocent of all charges but one. However the prosecution appealed, and the Chief Justice ordered a retrial in a different district court. At the retrial, Jeyaretnam was found guilty on all charges. The judge sentenced him to three months' imprisonment (later commuted to one month) and fined him S$5,000, as a result of which he was disqualified from serving in Parliament and standing for elections for a period of five years, and was also disbarred as a lawyer. Jeyaretnam was not able to appeal his conviction to the Privy Council, but he exercised his right to appeal the disbarment, and the Privy Council reversed the decision on his disbarment and, when they issued their judgement, severely criticised his conviction by the Singapore court. However the convictions and Jeyaretnam's disqualification from Parliament remained (and the following year, the Singapore government placed further restrictions on Singaporeans' right to appeal to the Privy Council). Though he was no longer in Parliament, Jeyaretnam continued to be The Workers' Party's Secretary-General.

1987–1990

In 1987, some Worker's Party members were among a group of 22 people arrested by Singapore's Internal Security Department, accused of being Marxists. They were released on condition that they kept out of politics.

Prior to the 1988 general elections, the Barisan Sosialis and the Singapore United Front were absorbed into Workers' Party.

At the 1988 general election, The Workers' Party did not win any constituencies, but came very close to winning the Eunos Group Representation Constituency (which was then a three-member constituency). The party's team of Francis Seow, Lee Siew Choh and Mohd Khalit bin Mohd Baboo won 49.1% of the votes to the PAP team's 50.9%. Only one opposition MP was returned to Parliament (Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Party). This meant that the Worker's Party was eligible to nominate two members of its team from Eunos to become Non-constituency MPs, as they had the highest percentage of the vote secured by losing opposition candidates at the election. The party had refused to nominate NCMPs in the past, but this time they nominated Seow and Lee to become NCMPs. However Seow (a former head of the Bar Society who had become a thorn in the government's side and had briefly been detained under the Internal Security Act prior to the general election) was subsequently accused of espionage and fled to the United States before he could take up an NCMP seat. Lee Siew Choh (a former leader of the Barisan Sosialis) became Singapore's first NCMP, serving until the 1991 general election. In Parliament, he took up several issues, including the Internal Security Act, living costs and welfare.

Jeyaretnam was sued slander by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew for comments he made at a Workers' Party election rally in 1988. Jeyaretnam lost the case and was ordered to pay Lee damages of S$260,000 plus costs.

1991–1996

At the 1991 general election, Low Thia Khiang, who was then The Workers' Party's Assistant Secretary-General, was elected as the MP for Hougang. He defeated the PAP's Tang Guan Seng by 10,621 votes (52.8%) to 9,487 (47.2%).

The party also polled strongly in Eunos GRC again, losing to the PAP's team by 47.6% of the votes to 52.4%. During the election campaign, one of The Workers' Party's candidates in Eunos, Jufrie Mahmood, drew particular fire from the PAP and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, who accused him of being a Malay chauvinist, an accusation Jufrie strongly denied.

No NCMP seats were offered to any of the opposition parties following the election as the opposition won a combined total of four seats (Low of The Workers' Party plus three MPs from Singapore Democratic Party).

Low captured national attention for his performances in Parliament, receiving praise for his assertiveness, good analytical ability and his willingness to be constructive rather than oppose for the sake of opposing.

A by-election in the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency in 1992 was expected to mark the return of Jeyaretnam to electoral poltics after his Parliamentary ban had expired. But one of Workers' Party's candidates backed out at the last minute and failed to turn up on nomination day, preventing the party from registering its team for the election.

In 1996, Jeyaretnam was sued for an article he wrote in an issue of The Workers' Party's newspaper, The Hammer, in which he called the PAP's Indian leaders a bunch of stooges. He was ordered to pay damages of S$465,000 and S$250,000 in court costs.

Lee Siew Choh left The Workers' Party in 1996, citing differences with Jeyaretnam.

1997–2000

Low was re-elected as Hougang MP at the 1997 general election.

The party also performed strongly in the Cheng San Group Representation Constituency, where Jeyaretnam was one of the party's candidates. The party lost to the PAP's team in the constituency by 45.2% of the votes to 54.8%.

Besides Low, only one other opposition MP was elected (Chiam See Tong, who had left the Singapore Democratic Party to join the Singapore People's Party). As The Workers' Party's team in Cheng San had polled better than any other opposition losing candidates, they were invited to select an NCMP. Jeyaretnam therefore returned to Parliament as an NCMP.

During the election campaign, another of the Worker's Party's candidates in Cheng San, lawyer Tang Liang Hong, drew particular attention from the PAP, who accused him of being an anti-Christian and anti-Muslim Chinese chauvinist. Tang, who insisted all he was trying to do was to "better represent the Chinese community and ask questions on their behalf", vigorously denied this charge and accused the PAP of trying to win votes by sowing fear into the electorate. He also attacked the PAP on the issue of the Hotel Properties Ltd case (which started when the Stock Exchange of Singapore criticised Hotel Properties Ltd for its "tardiness" in disclosing details of sales of its condominium units to directors and their family members). Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who had purchased one of the units, claimed that Tang was trying to milk this issue for political capital and sued him for defamation. Tang was also sued for branding the PAP leadership as a bunch of liars. He was eventually sued by the whole PAP leadership for a total of S$13.6 million, and fled to Australia soon after the election.

2001–2005

In 2001, Jeyaretnam lost his NCMP seat when he was declared bankrupt after failing to keep up with payments for damages owed from a libel suit brought by Goh Chok Tong and other PAP leaders following comments he had made at an election rally in 1997 (for which he had been ordered to pay S$100,000 plus S$20,000 in court costs).

Low Thia Khiang became the Worker's Party's Secretary-General in 2001 following the resignation of Jeyaretnam. The transfer of party leadership took place in bitter acrimony as Jeyaretnam later accused Low of not doing enough to help him pay the damages from the libel suit. In response, Low claimed that he had always looked upon Jeyaretnam as an elder and had done everything possible to help him.

Observers speculated that with Low at the helm, The Workers' Party would tone down its more hard-line stance and take on a more centrist outlook at the 2001 general election. Indeed soon after Low took over, Jeyaretnam and a faction which was loyal to him left the party (and later formed the Reform Party), and a group of new, younger members were recruited by The Workers' Party. Among them were James Gomez, Yaw Shin Leong and Sylvia Lim.

Low was re-elected as Hougang MP at the 2001 general election. The Party's fortunes reached a low as it only contested in two seats, in Hougang and Nee Soon East SMCs and had its entire Aljunied GRC team disqualified on Nomination Day.

2006–2010

File:Workers party rally.jpg

A Workers' Party election rally at the Serangoon Stadium.

The Workers' Party launched an updated manifesto in January 2006. The 52-page booklet outlined the party's stand on issues and policies, covering areas from economic and judicial policies to media and sports and recreation. The manifesto, which had last been updated in 1994, took one year to work on according to Low. The manifesto was attacked by the PAP for containing "time-bombs". In response, The Workers' Party quipped that its manifesto contained only time bombs which threatened the PAP's power.

At the 2006 general election, Low was elected as Hougang MP for the fourth time. The party also polled strongly in the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, losing to the PAP's team with 43.9% of the vote to 56.1%. This gave the party the right to the NCMP seat reserved for the best-performing opposition losers, and the party's Chairman, Sylvia Lim, was selected to become the NCMP.

During the 2006 election campaign, controversy arose over one of The Workers' Party's candidates in Aljunied GRC, James Gomez, who claimed that the Elections Department had lost his minority race candidate's certificate, and was forced to apologise when closed-circuit television evidence showed that he had placed the form in his briefcase without submitting it. The PAP attacked Gomez for the incident, with Lee Kuan Yew publicly calling him a "liar". One day after the election, Gomez was prevented from leaving Singapore on a trip to Stockholm and questioned by police over whether he had committed criminal intimidation in his dealings with the Elections Department. He was subsequently released after being given a warning, and was allowed travel to Stockholm. Gomez has since joined another opposition party, the Singapore Democratic Party and he contested the Sembawang Group Representation Constituency in 2011.

2011–present

The manifesto for the General Election 2011 was entitled 'Towards a First World Parliament'. This was also used as a slogan during campaigning. One key proposal was for more affordable public housing such that Housing Development Board (HDB) lessees should be able to pay off their mortgage loans within 20 years rather than 30 years. On April 27, 2011, Low announced his candidacy for the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency along with Lim and three other "A-list" candidates, vacating his seat of Hougang and leaving it to Yaw Shin Leong.

On May 7, 2011, six Workers' Party candidates were returned as Members of Parliament. Yaw Shin Leong successfully retained the party stronghold of Hougang with a majority slightly under 65%, while Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Pritam Singh were victorious in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, claiming 54.71% of the votes to unseat the incumbent PAP team which included two cabinet ministers, including the Foreign Minister George Yeo. Including overseas votes, the percentage of valid votes cast in favour of the WP team was 54.72%.

In addition, the party was eligible to take up two additional Non-Constituency seats in Parliament, by virtue of being the best-performing losers at the polls for Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency and East Coast Group Representation Constituency respectively. The party nominated Yee Jenn Jong (who contested in Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency) and Gerald Giam (who was part of the team which contested East Coast Group Representation Constituency) to take up the two additional Non-constituency Member of Parliament seats. Including the Non-constituency Member of Parliament seats, the party won a total of 8 seats, the most for any opposition party in Singapore since independence.

On the 12th of June 2011, The Workers' Party launched its grassroots arm for Aljunied GRC, called the Aljunied Constituency Committee (AJCC).

It also combined the Hougang and Aljunied town councils to form the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.

Party Executive Council

As of 9 June 2011:

• Low Thia Khiang 刘程强, Secretary-General
• Sylvia Lim 林瑞莲, Chairman
• Mohammed Rahizan bin Yaacob, Vice-Chairman
• Yaw Shin Leong 饶欣龙, Treasurer
• Yee Jenn Jong 余振忠, Deputy Treasurer
• Lee Li Lian 李丽连, Youth Wing President
• Ng Swee Bee 黄瑞美, Organising Secretary & Youth Wing Vice-President
• Muhammad Faisal bin Abdul Manap, Organising Secretary
• Gerald Giam Yean Song 严燕松, Media Team Chair
• Pritam Singh, Media Team Vice-Chair
• Koh Choong Yong 许俊荣, Webmaster
• Png Eng Huat 方荣发, Deputy Webmaster
• Frieda Chan Sio Phing 曾小玶, Council Member
• Dr Chen Show Mao 陈硕茂博士, Council Member
• Glenda Han Su May 韩苏美, Council Member
• Jane Leong 龙秀金, Council Member
• Dr John Yam Poh Nam 任保南博士, Council Member

References

Notes

External links

• Official Website of The Workers' Party
• Official Website of The Workers' Party Youth Wing