By Satish Cheney | Posted: 17 April 2011 1430 hrs
SINGAPORE: The
Reform Party has decided to give way to other opposition parties in two
single member constituencies (SMC) and one group representation
constituency (GRC) in the upcoming General Election.
It will give
way to the National Solidarity Party in Jurong GRC, the Singapore
Democratic Party in Yuhua SMC and the Singapore People's Party in Hong
Kah North SMC.
The party said it is doing this in the interest of opposition harmony.
Its Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam said his party will contest West Coast GRC, Radin Mas SMC and Pioneer SMC.
However, the party has not made a final decision yet on whether to contest Chua Chu Kang GRC.
On
Saturday, the National Solidarity Party also announced plans to give
way in the spirit of opposition unity. It said it would move its team
slated for Moulmein-Kallang GRC to Chua Chu Kang GRC to avoid a
three-cornered fight with the Workers' Party.
He said the party
has "enough candidates to form the nucleus" of the team for Chua Chu
Kang and it is a question of whether it decides to go ahead. He added
that the party is on the verge of announcing new candidates as well.
The party is also in discussion with other parties on the possibility of sharing candidates.
Despite
speculation that Mr Jeyaretnam may stand in Pioneer SMC, he said he has
not ruled out the possibility of contesting elsewhere.
He said:
"It could be Pioneer, it could be Radin Mas. Remember Radin Mas has a
history, a lot of the residents have come forward to ask me to stand
there, including 85 per cent of residents at Bukit Purmei who supported
my father (J.B Jeyaretnam) in Anson. So, there's a big groundswell of
support there. Or I could be standing in West Coast."
-CNA