SINGAPORE — The Registry of Societies has granted ‘in-principle’ approval for the registration of a formal political alliance comprising four opposition parties. This announcement was made by two of the alliance’s component party leaders, Lim Tean of the Peoples Voice (PV) and Goh Meng Seng of the People’s Power Party (PPP). The other two political parties in the proposed alliance are the Reform Party (RP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Announcing the latest development on their social media platform, PPP’s secretary-general Goh said, “The alliance will be formally named “People’s Alliance for Reform” (PAR). We look forward to work closely with our Alliance Partners to serve Singaporeans at large. We urge Singaporeans to em-Power us to bring your Voice into Parliament and effect real Reform to our Democracy.”
Goh also encouraged other opposition parties that have yet to join the People’s Alliance for Reform to ‘consider doing so.’
For PV’s chief Lim, he feels optimistic about the new alliance and believes that it is a significant step forward for the opposition parties in Singapore ahead of the next General Election which is due by Nov 2025.
“We are a true coalition, not a loose alliance,and we shall be fighting the next GE under one United Banner! This also means that candidates from the various parties in the coalition can fight as a combined team in a GRC,” said Lim in a Facebook posting.
“We have shown the way on what opposition unity means. Not some fluffy non-committal notion but a true combination of opposition resources and talent to bring forth a more democratic and prosperous Singapore for our citizens and next generation!”
In an earlier media release issued in June, the four parties announced their intention to form a new political alliance, which they initially proposed to name as the ‘People’s Alliance.’ In that release, they acknowledged that previous attempts to establish an alliance of opposition parties, most notably in 2018 when seven parties engaged in talks, had unfortunately been unsuccessful.
It was also announced then that the alliance’s first central executive committee (CEC) members shall be as follows. Kenneth Jeyaretnam of RP will be appointed as the chairman, and PV’s Lim will be the secretary-general. Peter Soh from PV was named as the vice-chairman, and Yasmine Velentina (RP) is the assistant secretary-general. DPP’s Hamim Aliyas has been assigned as the treasurer, while PPP’s Goh is the alliance organising secretary, and he will be assisted by Juliana Juwahir. The other members in the CEC are Abdul Malik Rahmat, Lim Lian Chin, Chiu Shin Kong, and Mahaboob Batcha.
Last month, a different set of four opposition parties – Red Dot United, National Solidarity Party (NSP), Singapore People’s Party (SPP), and Singapore United Party – have come together to establish a non-formal partnership, formalised through a signed memorandum of understanding. Naming themselves as ‘The Coalition,’ this loose political alliance allows the four parties to retain their individual political identities and branding while collaborating on shared resources, developing a joint manifesto, organising joint events and activities, and aiming to contest eight to ten constituencies in the upcoming General Election.
Established on Jul 3, 2001, the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) is the other political alliance in Singapore. Currently, the SDA consists of the Singapore Justice Party and the Malay-based party PKMS. NSP and SPP used to be part of this alliance but they left prior to the 2011 General Election.