Barisan Sosialis

The Barisan Sosialis (Malay for Socialist Front; Chinese: 社会主义阵线) is a former Singaporean left-wing political party formed in 1961, by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP) and led by Dr Lee Siew Choh and Lim Chin Siong.

Formation

The party was formed when the leftist faction of the PAP were dismissed by party leadership led by Lee Kuan Yew. The key event leading to the break up was the motion of confidence of the government in which 13 PAP assemblymen crossed party lines to abstain from the vote. Together with six prominent left-wing leaders from Singaporean trade unions, the dissident PAP members established this new party in opposition to the PAP. At the time of formation, it was arguable that the party’s support was comparable or if not, more than the PAP. The breakaway faction took away 35 of the 51 branches from the parent party while 19 of 23 organising secretaries went over to the other side.

Key Developments

Certainly a formidable rival, the Barisan Sosialis was accused by the PAP for being used as a front for Communism, a charge which members of the party vehemently denied. The PAP attack on the party as being a radical pro-Communist group was emphasised when PAP stalwart Goh Keng Swee commented on the schism (which, at the time, he clearly believed would end the PAP's dominance) in an interview with Dennis Bloodworth :: “…what shook us was not that we had lost the fight to the communists but it was done with such contemptuous ease: one flick of the hand, and we were down on the floor”.ref|1

However, it is widely acknowledged that a considerable number of the members of the party had some kind of admiration for the Chinese brand of revolutionary Socialism, which further damaged the long term viability of the movement in Singaporean politics.

Merger Issue

The party's program included anti-Malaysia campaigns. It believed that if Singapore joined the Federation of Malaysia, the anti-Communist Malaysian government would deal them more harshly than the PAP government in Singapore. In addition, it was believed that the merger was done to serve both the interests of the PAP and UMNO, both of which were extremely anti-Communist (while ironically practising socialist policies) and would cooperate to eliminate 'communism' from the Federation. In the referendum on merger with Malaysia, the Barisan Sosialis called on its supporters to cast blank votes, in which roughly 25% did. However, the PAP effectively ended Barisan's approach by counting all blank votes as a vote toward a loosely federal, autonomous position for Singapore within Malaysia. Thus, they failed to prevent the success of a referendum that approved Singapore's merger with Malaysia.

Cold Store and the 1963 Election

In February 1963, many members of Barisan Sosialis were arrested during Operation Coldstore by the Internal Security Department. Despite that, in the 1963 state elections, the Barisan Sosialis won 13 out of 51 seats, becoming the second largest and the leading opposition party. Nonetheless, the election results were viewed as a setback as the party had expected to win power. In addition, partly because of a split in the opposition vote, the opposition could only win 14 seats (including one from the United People's Party) despite winning 53% of the popular votes. After the elections, in a series of 'anti-Communist' and 'anti-subversive' activities, the Internal Security Department would continue to arrest members of the Barisan Sosialis, including MPs. One of them was Chia Thye Poh, a MP who was imprisoned in 1965 and was only released in 1998. The government has repeatedly insisted that Chia is a Communist and has testimonies from 2 ex-members of the underground Malayan Communist Party to prove this. Chia has repeatedly denied that he is one and insisted that he is a prisoner of conscience.

Decline

After Singapore's independence from Malaysia, the party's members of parliament began to resign one by one in 1966. Though the Barisan Sosialis' official position was to 'take the fight to the streets', in reality, the party believed that Singapore's future was in serious doubt and felt pointless to continue the political struggle. In the by-elections for these vacant seats, the PAP had a clean sweep. Calls for blank ballots by the Barisan Sosialis went unheeded. By 1968, there was no opposition member of parliament and it would take another 13 years before the opposition parties could win a seat in parliament. Since then, the party itself has failed to win a single seat in parliament. Later in an election rally in 1980, party chairman Dr Lee Siew Choh apologised to the voters for what they did in 1966 and admitted what they had done was a grave mistake. In 1988, the Barisan Sosialis was dissolved and its members, led by Dr Lee Siew Choh, joined the Workers' Party of Singapore.

Notes

#Bloodworth, Dennis. (1986). The Tiger and the Trojan Horse, Singapore: Times Books International, 1986.

Further reading

Mutalib, Hussin. (2003). Parties and Politics: A study of Opposition Parties and the PAP in Singapore. Singapore: Eastern University Press. - ISBN 981-210-211-6 (Paperback)

ee also

* PAP