Singapore Democratic Alliance is formed

The Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) is a coalition of political parties in Singapore that was formed after its official registration on 28 June 2001.^[1] At the time of its formation, the alliance comprised the Singapore People’s Party (SPP), the National Solidarity Party (NSP), the Singapore Justice Party (SJP), the Singapore National Front (SNF) and the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS). The alliance was led by Chiam See Tong, the secretary-general of the SPP.^[2] The NSP and the SPP left the alliance in 2007 and 2011 respectively. Presently, the alliance is made up of the SJP and PKMS, with Desmond Lim as its secretary-general.^[3]

The SDA was formed to create an “artificially” dominant opposition party to compete against the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). The coalition was part of a long-term goal to establish a two-party political system in Singapore. To facilitate this, any party that wanted to join the coalition had to give up its identity and contest under the banner of the SDA. However, the individual parties could “still add their own dynamism to the synergy of the alliance”.^[4] The political culture set by the SDA failed to attract the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the Workers’ Party (WP) as both parties chose to focus on seeing to their own needs and strengthening their own parties first.^[5]

The first election that the SDA contested was the 2001 parliamentary general election. The alliance fielded 13 candidates to contest in two Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) – Tampines GRC and Jalan Besar GRC – and the three single-seat wards of Potong Pasir, Bukit Timah and Chua Chu Kang.^[6] Chiam was the only candidate who won under the SDA banner and was re-elected as member of parliament for the Potong Pasir ward.^[7]

References
1. Green light for new coalition. (2001, June 29). Today, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
2. The Straits Times, 29 Jun 2001, p. 2.
3. Chia, S., & Kwek, K. (2007, January 19). NSP leaves Chiam's 4-party alliance. The Straits Times, p. 35. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Cheow, X. Y. (2011, March 3). Chiam pulls party out of alliance. Today. Retrieved from Factiva; Toh, M. (2011, May 3). Punggol East SMC; I didn’t cause 3-way fight, says SDA chief. The Straits Times. Retrieved from Factiva.
4. Sivakkumaran, G. (2001, June 29). Registry gives opposition alliance go-ahead. The Straits Times, p. 2; Tan, K. (2001, July 31). The signs. Today, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
5. Sivakkumaran, G. (2001, August 3). WP, SDP to stay out of alliance. The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
6. Chiam: SDA will form ‘super ward’. (2001, October 26). The Straits Times, p. 6; Page 1 Advertisements Column 1: Battle lines. (2001, October 26). The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
7. PM’s offer to Potong Pasir helped thin margin: BG Lee. (2001, November 5). The Straits Times, p. 3. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.