Former Workers’ Party (WP) candidate James Gomez will return to Singapore for good at the end of this year but declined to say if he will still be active in opposition politics.
He left Singapore shortly after the May 2006 election to work as a researcher in a think tank in Sweden.
The 42-year-old was part of the WP team that contested in Aljunied GRC at the last polls.
They garnered the highest share of votes among opposition GRC teams of 43.9 per cent of valid votes.
Asked if he would contest the next polls due by 2011, he said: “That’s too far ahead, but I’ll be happy to discuss (with the party leaders) further”.
He was awarded a degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Australia’s Monash University at a ceremony at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Friday.
Reporters were present because he had informed the media that he wished to speak on his research on the internet and Singapore elections.
After 3 1/2 years of work and analysis of the three GEs in 1997, 2001 and 2006, his conclusion is that the availability of alternative political views online had no impact on voting patterns.
Currently on a fellowship at Japan’s Keio University, he said he hoped to continue to do research in this area after his return to Singapore.
