The Singapore Democratic Party (abbrev: SDP; simplified Chinese: 新加坡民主党; traditional Chinese: 新加坡民主黨; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் மக்களாட்சி; Malay: Parti Demokratik Singapura) is an opposition political party in Singapore.
The party was founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, who as Secretary-General became the party's first Member of Parliament (MP) in 1984 when he was elected as MP for Potong Pasir. At the 1991 general election, the party's best ever performance ever, two further SDP members were elected to Parliament - (Ling How Doong and Cheo Chai Chen), giving the party a total of three MPs. However, Chiam fell out with the party's Central Executive Committee in 1993 and subsequently left the party in 1997. He was succeeded by Dr Chee Soon Juan, who has remained the Secretary-General since the SDP's Ordinary Party Conference in 1995. The party has since focused more on a liberal human rights agenda but has yet to secure parliamentary representation since 1997.
The party is a member of Liberal International and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats.
Read more about Singapore Democratic Party: Party Structure, Affiliations
Famous quotes containing the words democratic and/or party:
“It is the American vice, the democratic disease which expresses its tyranny by reducing everything unique to the level of the herd.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“Pull out a Monte Cristo at a dinner party and the political liberal turns into the nicotine fascist.”
—Martyn Harris (b. 1952)