Singapore – Speaking to the press after the official results came out for the 2020 General Elections, opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Dr Chee Soon Juan said they would continue to press on.
The SDP came up short among the constituencies they fielded for the GE2020 and weren’t able to secure any Parliamentary seats.
They contested a total 11 seats across five constituencies, namely, Bukit Batok SMC, with Dr Chee; Bukit Pangang SMC, represented by chairman Dr Paul Tambyah; Yuhua SMC with Robin Low; Holland-Bukit Timah GRC with the team of Tan Jee Say, Dr James Gomez, Min Cheong and Alfred Tan; as well as Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC represented by the team of Bryan Lim Boon Heng, Damanhuri Abas, Benjamin Pwee and Khung Wai Yeen.
The party received a total of 110,827 votes across all areas or 37.04 per cent of votes in contested seats.
“We ran a very good campaign that’s focused on policy and on the issues. Unfortunately, we came up short,” said Dr Chee, who thanked all the voters. “We will continue to press on,” he added.
Dr Chee personally thanked those who accompanied him throughout the campaign in Bukit Batok. He contested for the second time against Mr Murali Pillai who took 61.2 per cent in the 2016 by-election, and 54.8 per cent of the votes for GE2020.
Analysts noted that amid a barren outcome for SDP, there was a gain in vote shares, reported todayonline.com. For example, in Bukit Panjang SMC, Dr Tambyah received 46.26 per cent of the vote which is the highest vote share among all the constituencies fielded by SDP and the highest percentage won by an opposition candidate among all the SMCs.
Dr Chee’s numbers in Bukit Batok SMC also increased by 6.4 per cent in vote shares compared to the previous elections.
“We’re going to continue to try to see what we can begin to improve on and then come back stronger,” said Dr Chee. He expressed appreciation to all their members and volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the campaign. “Our heartfelt gratitude to all of them. “We’ll make sure that things continue to improve,” he added.
Members from the online community extended their support for the party and encouraged Dr Chee not to be disheartened. Many agreed that it was a close fight and the percentages showed a job well done.
“You should take it as a win,” said Facebook user Norashsikin Radzelee. “You are gaining a lot of trust and respect from the younger generation.” She assured that Dr Chee and the team would be in Parliament someday as the numbers from the elections spoke for itself.
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