Parties and Politics - A Study of Opposition Parties and the PAP in Singapore by Hussin Mutalib

This is a holistic analysis on the 4 significant political parties in Singapore -- namely, the Barisan Socialis, Worker's Party, Singapore Democratic Party and PKMS by Associate Professor Hussin Mutalib of Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore.

The Author gives a brief description on how local politics evolved from a 2-party rule into a 1-party dominant political system. From the historical ontext of politics before 1963, the Author moves on to case study Singapore's opposition parties. He then gives his analysis on the impediments to a viable opposition in Singapore and concludes with the future prospects for these opposition parties.

Barisan Socialis was, at one time, the strongest opposition to the PAP government when it splintered off from the latter. Worker's Party is the longest opposition party to exist in Singapore. Singapore Democratic Party is a relatively new political party formed in 1980 but won a seat (by Chiam See Tong) in 1984. PKMS, a Malay-first Political Party surviving in a Chinese-dominated society.