NSP proves that SMRT aren’t the only ones with issues on their tracks
The National Solidarity Party (NSP) campaign seems to be falling apart even before election dates are announced. With member resignations and candidate accusations, solidarity doesn’t really seem to be the first priority in the National Solidarity Party.
We take a look at the headlines made by the embattled party’s in recent weeks.
Secretary-general and CEC member resignation
Last week, acting secretary-general Hazel Poa quit after the party changed its mind about not contesting MacPherson Single Member Constituency (SMC). NSP had announced on 10 Aug that they would leave fellow opposition Worker’s Party (WP) to take on the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) for the SMC.
Then, on Monday (24 Aug), Central Executive Committee (CEC) member Mohamed Fazli Bin Talip announced that he had submitted his resignation letter.
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3 hours before the post on his resignation, Fazli uploaded a rather ominous post.
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Losing two CEC members in a week, with one of them being the secretary-general certainly raises some eyebrows.
The Steve Chia/MacPherson conundrum
We’ve already talked about NSP flip-flopping on their decision to contest MacPherson Single Member Constituency (SMC) and how the decision resulted in the departure of Hazel Poa.
3 days after the announcement, NSP CEC member Steve Chia, who suggested the party contest MacPherson SMC in the first place, withdrew his decision.
In a since-removed Facebook update on Saturday (22 Aug), the former NCMP explained his reasons for flipping his flop.
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Steve seems hurt by all the comments on social media about his candidacy, and has thus withdrawn from the MacPherson contest. There was also a website was set up detailing information about his personal history, which Steve himself said was “not correctly written”.
The party itself seems unfazed though, and is standing firm on working that 3-way battle.
President Sebastian Teo
As if all of that drama wasn’t enough, NSP President Sebastian Teo has had to contend with the resurfacing of an old corruption case on a website hosted on Wix that was absolutely not made by an amateur.
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To Sebastian’s credit, he has come out all guns blazing.
In an interview with The Straits Times, NSP’s de facto leader has taken full responsibility in the recent unraveling of events, and will not leave the party.
NSP will still contest the 12 seats at the coming General Election as previously agreed — Sembawang GRC, Tampines GRC, Pioneer SMC, and MacPherson SMC.
What’s next?
We’re still 3 weeks away from Singapore’s 17th General Election, and the wheels already seem to be falling off NSP’s campaign.
Throughout the entire sequence of events detailed above, the NSP Facebook page has maintained radio silence, with no comment on the inner workings of the party.
What’s going on in NSP? Will we be seeing more members leaving the party in the coming days?
These losses will certainly be noticeable and will put the party under further scrutiny.
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Featured Image via National Solidarity Party (Facebook)
With references from Mohamed Fazli Bin Talip (Facebook), National Solidarity Party, Channel NewsAsia, HardwareZone Forums, The Straits Times
