SINGAPORE: In the run-up to the next General Election, which must be held by this November, the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) is set to vote in its top decision-making body, the central executive committee, on Thursday (Mar 20) The Straits Times reported.
Having caused a splash when it was founded in 2019 by former longtime PAP MP Tan Cheng Bock and 11 others, PSP has quickly become one of the most important opposition parties in Singapore. In the general election in 2020, it came close to winning at West Coast GRC, which resulted in PSP members Hazel Poa and Leong Mun Wai becoming Non-constituency Members of the 14th Parliament of Singapore. Aside from The Workers’ Party, PSP is the only opposition party in Parliament.
PSP’s top leadership has undergone a series of changes over the years. Dr Tan was party chief from 2019 to 2021, after which he was replaced by Francis Yuen, who had been Assistant Secretary-General. Dr Tan is currently the party’s chairman, a position he has held for the past few years.
Although Mr Yuen had said that he would lead PSP to the next election, by March 2023, the party announced that he had been appointed as executive chairman of an overseas publicly listed company, which would make it difficult for him to lead PSP.
Mr Leong then took the reins but stepped down the following year after he had been issued a POFMA (Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation) correction order because of a Facebook post he had put up.
Read related: Leong Mun Wai steps down as PSP chief due to POFMA order
On Feb 20, 2024, Ms Poa, who had been PSP’s Vice Chairperson, became its Secretary-General. Whether she will retain this position remains to be seen, with ST reporting that both she and Mr Leong are expected to vie for this position.
The report characterised PSP’s upcoming leadership election as “hotly contested,” with 24 candidates competing for 12 seats in the CEC. ST added that aside from Ang Yong Guan, PSP’s assistant secretary-general, most of its existing CEC members are set to seek re-election.
After PSP’s cadres, who number approximately 100, choose the 12 members to be the next CEC, the 12 will co-opt an additional two cadres to bring the CEC total to 14. These 14 members will then decide on who will be taking which leadership position. /TISG