arena, at a time when none other exists, is very much like giving up politics altogether”. The departure from the parliament arguably sealed the fate of Barisan. Final days By 1967, Barisan had been depleted and its declining fortunes was seen in the contraction of its membership. Within three years from 1963 to 1966, the number of its branches had shrunk to 33 from 36 with only 22 effective. In contrast, the PAP maintained its 51 branches throughout the three years. The Barisan boycotted the General Elections in 1968 and allowed the PAP to win all 51 seats in the Parliament. Barisan returned to contest the 1972 general election. However, it failed to win any seat in this and subsequent elections. It was clear that Barisan was no longer in a position to function effectively as a political party. In May 1988, the Barisan was dissolved into the Workers' Party of Singapore to strengthen the opposition and applied for dissolution. The application was denied approval as Barisan's constitution required all its branches to agree to the dissolution but none were left. Hence, it was left dormant since. Communist debate From the perspective of the PAP government, the Barisan was a communist-controlled organisation which Lee Kuan Yew labelled as a "main open front communist organization" The ISC stated that the Barisan activists were indeed communist-inspired and the Barisan was controlled by the Communists to sabotage the formation of Malaysia. Although admitting that they adopted Communist tactics for the anti-colonial cause because, at the time, such tactics would gather mass support, Lim Chin Siong refuted the Communist label attached to him and the Barisan. He claimed: "Let me make it clear, once and for all, that I am not a Communist, or a Communist front-man, or, for that matter, anybody's front-man." "I was an MBA League member, but that doesn't mean that I was a communist...MBA is far from MCP...Study the Manifesto of the PA; it was more anti-colonial and more communist in doctrine...Of course during that time, the largest surviving party in Malaya was MCP and PAP was relatively new, so it was inevitable the thinking was influenced by communism." (Interview with Lim Chin Siong) It may have been possible that the Barisan was merely inspired by successful Communist movements elsewhere to end colonialism and to mobilise the masses, and there is uncertainty about whether the Barisan was Communist controlled or