SINGAPORE: Cracks are starting to show in the ranks of the National Solidarity Party (NSP), following the news on Wednesday (Jun 17) that its secretary-general had quit after less than five months in the position.

The resignation of lawyer Tan Lam Siong – who was the party’s third secretary-general in less than two years – comes on the heels of a spate of departures involving members who had joined the party for only a short period.

… Political observer Alan Chong, from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, noted that a casting vote results in power being centralised in a political party. “If a president can have a casting vote, it definitely institutionalises a power imbalance in the party,” he said. “It doesn’t enhance democracy within the party, but if you have a charismatic leader, your party can still go places.”