The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the Workers' Party (WP) told Reuters,  August 3 they were not joining the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), which was officially launched last Saturday.

The new alliance, agreed after 10 months of negotiations, marks the first time the opposition has tried to campaign under a common banner.

The PAP has dominated Singapore politics for the 36 years since independence. It holds 81 of 83 seats in parliament.

The opposition has remained small and fragmented -- there are now 22 opposition parties in the country.

The PAP must call elections by August 2002 and is expected to run unopposed in many constituencies.

Critics say the ruling party's use of legal action against its opponents has had a chilling effect on political activity.

Former WP chief J.B. Jeyaretnam recently lost his concessionary parliamentary seat and was barred from contesting the next polls after losing an appeal against bankruptcy.

DIVIDED OPPOSITION

The new alliance groups four parties - the Singapore People's Party, National Solidarity Party, Singapore Justice Party and the Malay-based Pertubohan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (Singapore Malay National Organisation).

The alliance offers the opposition a chance at fighting for larger wards which group at least three candidates, rather than the single seats parties contested before.

But the SDP has declined to join the alliance saying it has already formulated its election battle plan.

"We feel it's going to be more effectively carried out if we remained as the SDP rather than part of a political entity," SDP secretary general Chee Soon Juan said on August 3.

Workers' Party chairman Tan Bin Seng said the party will wait and see how the SDA operates.

All the opposition parties, however, will continue with long-standing agreements to avoid three-cornered fights.

The new alliance's founding chairman Chiam See Tong said its purpose was "to unite the opposition" and "be a counter-force to balance the power of the ruling party" with the aim of eventually having a two-party system in Singapore.

But the SDP and WP said Singapore was not ready for such a system.

"You haven't even got a (strong) opposition," Chee said.

Fundamental differences between the opposition personalities also made opposition unity difficult, said Chua Beng Huat, a sociology professor at the National University of Singapore who has written several books on the city state's politics.

"Chee Soon Juan is a lot more serious about displacing the PAP than Chiam ever was," Chua said.

Chee ousted Chiam from the SDP's top spot in 1993.

Chiam, who is one of the two elected opposition members of parliament, later founded the Singapore People's Party and has typically taken a softer approach towards the government.