Singapore Democratic Party

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was constituted in 1980. It believes in and is working toward restoring human, civil, and political rights in Singapore; cultivating a transparent and accountable political system based on free competition and equal opportunity for all; removing all policies and practices that discriminate against the less fortunate, women, and minorities, and cooperating with democratic parties and organizations in Asia to achieve peace and sustainable development in the region. The SDP is widely recognized as the party in Singapore that is most adept in using the Internet to communicate with the public outside of the constraints of the state-controlled media in the city state. It uses blogging, political videos, and social media to reach out to the people. It was the first opposition party in Singapore to have a youth wing (Young Democrats). The party has released 10 policy papers in the last several years on various topics, including Education, Healthcare, Housing, and Climate Change. The SDP was also the first political party in Singapore to produce a paper on the issues faced by the minority Malay community with community-driven solutions. The Central Executive Committee (CEC) leads the party with Prof. Paul Tambyah as Chairman and Dr. Chee Soon Juan as its secretary general. A third of the party leadership are between the age of 30 and 40 years old. Party leaders and members have had to endure a series of court cases, and even imprisonment, for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly in the recent past. In the past two general elections, the SDP was seen to be the most “improved” opposition party, in terms of making the largest gain in the share of votes among opposition parties. In GE 2020, both Chairman Paul Tambyah and Secretary General Chee Soon Juan garnered more than 45 percent of the votes in their respective constituencies, placing them very close to electoral success. This was in spite of a very skewed campaign that had no campaign rallies, limited voter engagement allowed, and widespread use of the new draconian POFMA law, which allows ministers wide latitude in characterizing statements as “falsehoods.”