SDP to contest in Punggol East by-election

By: Singapore Democrats

The SDP has drawn up comprehensive policies which address the concerns and worries of our fellow Singaporeans. We look forward to putting our policies before the voters of Punggol East and give Singaporeans a chance to vote for an alternative to the PAP. These policies are:

1. To introduce the Singaporeans First policy where Singaporeans are given priority in employment and to stop the 6.5 million population target (see Singaporeans Come First, the full policy paper will be published soon),
2. To scrap the 3M (Medisave, Medishield, and Medifund) system and introduce a National Health Investment Fund in order to make our healthcare system non-profit making and affordable for everyone (see The SDP National Healthcare Plan: Caring For All Singporeans),
3. To introduce Non-Open Market flats to make HDB prices affordable for our people (see Housing A Nation: Holistic Policies For Affordable Homes),
4. To peg ministerial salaries to the wages of the lowest 20 percent income earners (see Ethical Salaries For A Public Service Centered Government), and
5. To re-prioritize our Budget so as to increase investment in our children's education, SMEs and the needy (see Shadow Budget 2012: Securing Our Future).

We are building a competent and constructive opposition party and we would like to offer a new type of opposition politics to the voters.

We look forward to bringing up these alternatives in Parliament and engaging the PAP in meaningful and substantive debates. We are keen to put our policies before the voters of Punggol East and give Singaporeans a chance to vote for an alternative to the PAP.

For the first time, an opposition party has proposed alternative policies that focus on the people’s real needs. We hope our participation in this by-election will help to bring about a maturing of our country’s politics. The SDP's participation will allow the by-election to focus on the people's concerns and policies that will address them.

In the past several years and especially since the 2011 General Elections, we have been building up our party machinery and know-how in campaigning. Our ranks have grown and resources have expanded.

We are confident in bringing our campaign to Punggol East and communicating our message to our voters there. We will start work immediately and we will concentrate our resources on the constituency in the lead up to the election.

We also have a slate of qualified and credible candidates whom we can field. Whoever is selected will serve the residents of Punggol East with competence, commitment and compassion. We will decide on the candidate in due course.

In summary, we would like to offer the voters of Punggol East the policies, capabilities and candidate who would best serve them as their representative in Parliament.