SINGAPORE — Four opposition parties, the Peoples Voice, Reform Party, People’s Power Party and the Democratic Progressive Party, have announced a new political alliance called the ‘People’s Alliance’, with Kenneth Jeyaretnam as the chairman of its central executive committee and Lim Tean as the alliance’s secretary-general.
In a media release shared by the alliance’s chairman and secretary-general on social media, they said that the four opposition parties had discussed allying at the start of the year. They added that they would hold a press conference and officially launch the People’s Alliance once registration has been approved.
“Past attempts to forge an alliance of the opposition parties, most recently in 2018, when seven parties came together for talks, unfortunately went nowhere,” said Lim and Jeyaretnam in a Facebook posting.
They added that Singaporeans have been yearning for united opposition to take on the dominant ruling People’s Action Party in the general election. The People’s Alliance also hopes to form meaningful alliances with other parties for the country’s benefit.
“These calls have magnified in recent years given the deteriorating conditions of life Singaporeans find themselves in. Whether it is the excruciating cost of living, unaffordable property prices or job insecurity, amongst many other grievances, Singaporeans realise that the ruling PAP is no longer up to the task of moving our country forward,” added the newly announced People’s Alliance.
The announcement was also shared by Goh Meng Seng, who was named the Organising Secretary of the proposed People’s Alliance. The four parties hope to contest the next general election by 2025 under their People’s Alliance logo.
“We are agreed on the most critical issues affecting the prosperity of our people and country in the coming decades. We have a ready manifesto to take to the country for the General Election,” expressed the leaders of the People’s Alliance.
The People’s Alliance also shared they intend to contest all the seats the parties had contested in the 2020 general elections. RP contested in Ang Mo Kio GRC and Radin Mas SMC, while PV contested in Jalan Besar GRC, Pasir Ris – Punggol GRC, and Mountbatten SMC. The PPP’s sole candidate in the previous election was Goh Meng Seng who contested in MacPherson SMC.
DPP did not feature in the 2020 election, and their last participation in the Singapore General Election was in 2001 when father and son Tan Soo Phuan and Tan Lead Shake contested in Ayer Rajah SMC and MacPherson SMC, respectively. Mohamad Hamim Bin Aliyas is DPP’s secretary-general and has been named the People’s Alliance treasurer.
The full list of the People’s Alliance’s first central executive committee members can be found below.
Chairman: Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Vice-Chairman: Peter Soh
Secretary-General Lim Tean
Assistant Secretary-General: Yasmine Valentina
Treasurer: Mohamad Hamim Bin Aliyas
Assistant Treasurer: Michael Fang
Organising Secretary: Goh Meng Seng
Assistant Organising Secretary: Juliana Binte Juwahir
Members: Abdul Malik Bin Rahmat, Lim Lian Chin, Chiu Shin Kong, Mahaboob Batcha s/o Abdul Rasheed