SINGAPORE: The People’s Power Party (PPP) have announced that they will be organising its first policy forum, titled “Time To Change. Yes We Can!” on Dec 21, where they will share their party’s policy proposal ahead of the upcoming election due by November 2025.
Those interested in attending the PPP’s policy forum may sign up here. The forum will be held at the Mercure Singapore Bugis from 1.30 pm to 5 pm.
PPP’s secretary-general, Goh Meng Seng, also announced on Facebook that the Singapore Democratic Party’s central executive member, Dr James Gomez, will be one of the panellists at the forum.
Goh and Dr James used to be members of the Workers’ Party (WP), and they were part of the team that contested Aljunied GRC at the 2006 General Election. The team, which also included Sylvia Lim, Rahizan Yaacob, and Tan Wui-Hua, garnered 43.91% of the votes.
PPP believes there is a wealth of talent and expertise within the opposition ranks and is well-equipped to develop and advocate for innovative policy solutions.
“We’re the problem solvers, solution providers and advocates of alternative policy options. We do not brainwash you or simply tell you to follow our plan.
We encourage you to participate, to interact and think for yourself what should work best. We respect your choice and appreciate differences,” shared the party on an event page posted on social media.
During the recent People’s Action Party (PAP) convention in November, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong stated that the government is doing its best to address the rising cost of living while the opposition is attempting to capitalise on this issue to sway public opinion against the PAP, despite lacking effective solutions themselves.
“We feel the pressure in Singapore too. Opposition parties have tried to exploit this issue to turn sentiments against the PAP, even though they themselves do not have good solutions.
We hope Singaporeans understand that these are global inflation trends. They impact all countries,” said PM Wong.
PM Wong emphasized that the government is dedicated to shielding Singaporeans from the worst impacts of inflation and has implemented significant support packages over the past few years to support them.
“There is more help on the way. In December, there will be some measures from the Assurance Package, and in January another tranche of CDC Vouchers coming up.
I am now preparing for Budget 2025. Because I’m still the Finance Minister, remember. I will see how we can continue to provide additional support in the Budget,” added the Prime Minister.
Currently, besides the ruling PAP, the only opposition members of parliament are from the Workers’ Party and the Progress Singapore Party. The PPP has yet to achieve electoral success since its formation prior to the 2015 election.
In 2015, the PPP contested Chua Chu Kang GRC and only managed to garner 23.09% of the votes against the PAP team led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong. In 2020, the party’s sole candidate, Goh Meng Seng, lost to Tin Pei Ling in MacPherson SMC.
PPP is part of the People’s Alliance for Reform, formed in November 2023. The other component parties are the People’s Voice, Democratic Progressive Party, and Reform Party.