National Solidarity Party (Singapore)

National Solidarity Party
国民团结党
Leader Lim Tean
President Sebastian Teo
Secretary-General Lim Tean
Founded 1987 (1987)
Headquarters 397 Jalan Besar
#02-01A
Singapore 209007
Ideology Democratic socialism
Political position Left-wing
Colours Orange
Parliament
0 / 89
Website
nsp.sg

The National Solidarity Party (NSP, simplified Chinese: 国民团结党; traditional Chinese: 國民團結黨) is a political party in Singapore. The party was formed in 1987, and joined the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) political grouping in 2001, before withdrawing from the alliance in 2007. To date, no member of the party has won an election to claim a constituency seat in Parliament. However the party's former Secretary-General, Steve Chia, served as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) from 2001 to 2006.

History and political development

The NSP was founded by a group of middle-class businessmen and women in July 1987. The party has contested every general election in Singapore since 1988.

In 2001, the NSP became a founding member of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), along with the Singapore Justice Party (SJP), the Singapore People's Party (SPP) and the Singapore Malay National Organization (PKMS). The Chairman of the alliance was the SPP leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Potong Pasir, Chiam See Tong.

At the 2001 general election, Chiam was re-elected as MP for Potong Pasir, and NSP Secretary-General Steve Chia became the SDA's second representative in Parliament when he earned a position as a Non-Constituency MP. Steven Chia achieved this by garnering 34.6% of the votes in the constituency of Chua Chu Kang, which was the highest percentage of the vote secured by a losing opposition candidate at the election.

At the 2006 general election, the NSP again fielded candidates as part of the SDA grouping. However Chiam was the only SDA candidate to enter Parliament at that election when he was re-elected as MP for Potong Pasir. Steve Chia increased his share of the vote in Chua Chu Kang to 39.63%, but this was lower than the 43.9% gained by the Workers' Party in Aljunied GRC, and hence Chia lost his position as a Non-Constituency MP.

In 2007, the NSP decided to withdraw from the SDA[1] with a view to "explore new possibilities through wider latitude to manoeuvre, re-engineer, and rebuild the NSP". Sebastian Teo also took over the leadership of the party from Steve Chia. The party acquired a new collective colour of orange for their activity jersey as a sign of vitality and rebirth. The party's newsletter underwent a transformation and adopted the new name North Star.

Objectives and policies

In late-2007, the NSP formulated a set of political objectives and mission statements:

Political Ideology The National Solidarity Party (NSP) is a centrist party. We believe in fair competition, low unemployment and redistribution.

Mission Statements

NSP exists to uphold democracy, and to provide constructive ideas to benefit the Society. The Party positively promotes the establishment of a multi-party political system. It envisions to be a credible and caring political party. NSP is the only few conservative political party in Singapore.

Core Values

Organization and structure

16th Central Executive Council

Leadership

The party is led by its CEC. In 2015, a number of senior members of the party resigned, including its acting secretary-general Hazel Poa who was replaced by Lim Tean.

Electoral Performance

The party currently does not have any Members of Parliament.

General Election 2011

The National Solidarity Party fielded the most candidates of all Opposition parties in this election. It fielded candidates in 4 GRCs and 4 SMCs. These were Chua Chu Kang GRC, Jurong GRC, Marine Parade GRC, Tampines GRC, Whampoa SMC (now defunct), Radin Mas SMC, Pioneer SMC and Mountbatten SMC. This was the first election under new Secretary-General Goh Meng Seng, who is now chief of the People's Power Party. This election saw a boost in electoral support for the NSP. Another asset to the NSP was the arrival of candidates from the Reform Party and their supporters. Notable candidates include Nicole Seah, Hazel Poa, Tony Tan Lay Thiam and Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss.

However, the NSP was unfortunately hamstrung by a lack of a strong party brand. While they fielded quality candidates like former MP Cheo Chai Chen and entrepreneur Hazel Poa, the undefinable branding took a huge toll on the party. The NSP failed to capture any of the seats in the 87-seat parliament. Goh Meng Seng resigned from his post shortly after the election.

General Election 2015

The National Solidarity Party initially wanted to contest Tampines Group Representation Constituency, Sembawang Group Representation Constituency and Pioneer Single Member Constituency, Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency and MacPherson Single Member Constituency. However, the National Solidarity Party decided to pull out of Marine Parade GRC and MacPherson SMC, citing multi-cornered contests, which were likely to dilute the Opposition's votes and reduce the chance of a more diverse Parliament. It also noted that the Workers' Party of Singapore did not respond to attempts to jointly resolve the issue.[3]

However, a few days later, National Solidarity Party went back on its words, and decided to field Cheo Chai Chen as its candidate for MacPherson SMC, citing closeness with the constituency as they had contested there in GE2011. This caused former National Solidarity Party secretary-general Hazel Poa to resign in protest.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Solidarity Party.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nsp.sg/nspnews/NSP_News_7/Press%20Release%20-%20Re-positioning%20of%20the%20NSP.pdf
  2. ↑ Chen, Abdullah (1 Sep 2015). "GE2015: Lim Tean is new secretary-general of National Solidarity Party". Straits Times. Retrieved 2 Sep 2015.
  3. ↑ http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/nsp-pulls-out-of-marine/2040244.html
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