Tan Cheng Bock confirms Leon Perera will not contest GE2025 under PSP ticket

SINGAPORE: Progress Singapore Party (PSP) chairman Tan Cheng Bock has confirmed that former Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament Leon Perera will not contest the 2025 General Election under the PSP banner.

Speculation that Mr Perera could be among PSP’s slate of candidates for the coming election arose after he was spotted attending an internal party meeting held at the PSP party office on Tuesday (April 15). The meeting was convened right after the Writ of Election was issued.

Mr Perera had also attended the PSP’s National Day dinner last year, prompting questions of whether he had joined the party. PSP responded at the time that Mr Perera was helping the party as a volunteer.

When asked about the rumours of Mr Perera’s potential candidacy, Dr Tan confirmed that the ex-MP is not among the candidates the party will field in GE2025. He told the press on Thursday (April 17), “I could let you guess, but I won’t be so bad. He is not standing with us. He is not a candidate. I’ll be very honest and frank with you.”

Mr Perera has reportedly been helping a number of opposition parties in Singapore on an informal, voluntary basis since he left the WP in 2023. Earlier this year, he announced that he would be moving to New York for work.

The PSP has yet to officially confirm which wards it will contest in the election, aside from Marymount SMC and Kebun Baru SMC. Dr Tan is expected to lead an A-team at the new Jurong West-West Coast GRC, although he has not confirmed exactly where he will stand.

He told the press, “I’m actually going to be 85 soon, in a couple of days. I will be able to contribute, and I still think I can contribute.”

He added, “I go everywhere… Our goal is to let Singaporeans know that they need a good voice, and currently, the (number of) opposition members in the House is too small… but generally, we need that voice in the House to articulate all the issues that are presented to us.”

Dr Tan was the ruling party MP representing Ayer Rajah SMC, which now falls under Jurong West-West Coast, from 1980 to 2006. In the 2020 general election, the PSP team Dr Tan led for West Coast GRC achieved 48.32 per cent of the vote. This was the ruling party’s narrowest victory and, despite losing the contest, two PSP candidates were appointed as Non-Constituency Members of Parliament, as the best-performing opposition candidates who did not get elected.