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Singapore People's Party

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Singapore People's Party
Malay nameParti Rakyat Singapura
Chinese name新加坡人民党
Xīnjiāpō Rénmín Dǎng
Tamil nameசிங்கப்பூர் மக்கள் கட்சி
Ciṅkappūr Makkaḷ Kaṭci
ChairmanMelvyn Chiu
Secretary-GeneralSteve Chia[1][2]
FounderSin Kek Tong
Founded21 November 1994; 30 years ago (21 November 1994)
Split fromSingapore Democratic Party
Headquarters28 Sin Ming Ln, #03-142, Singapore 573972
Ideology
Political positionCentre-left
Colours  Purple
Parliament
0 / 104
Website
https://singaporepeoplesparty.org/

The Singapore People's Party (abbreviation: SPP) is an opposition political party in Singapore.

History

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SPP was founded on 21 November 1994 by Sin Kek Tong, who led a pro-Chiam See Tong faction out of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). Over two years, Sin stood as the pro-tem leader until Chiam joined the party and assumed leadership in December 1996, at the time the Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 1997 general election. Chiam then became the party's first Member of Parliament (MP) when he won the constituency of Potong Pasir at the election, where he also did under the SDP banner.

Membership of the Singapore Democratic Alliance

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In 2001, the SPP became a founding member of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), along with the National Solidarity Party (NSP), the Singapore Justice Party (SJP) and the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS). Chiam became the founding Chairman of SDA, which aimed to provide a common grouping under which different opposition parties could stand as a political coalition in elections against the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).

At the 2001 general election, Chiam See Tong was returned to Parliament as MP for Potong Pasir. Though Chiam was the only SDA member to win an elected seat in Parliament, he was joined in Parliament by SDA member Steve Chia (then-leader of the National Solidarity Party) who became a non-constituency MP after securing 34.6% of the votes in the constituency of Chua Chu Kang, which was the highest percentage of the vote secured by a losing opposition candidate at the election. The result made Chiam the de facto leader of the opposition in Parliament, as the SDA had two representatives (Chiam and Chia), whereas the only other opposition party represented in Parliament (the Workers' Party) had only one (Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang).

At the 2006 general election, Chiam See Tong was again re-elected as MP for Potong Pasir. However, the SDA did not win any other seats. Steve Chia lost his position as a non-constituency MP. Though Chia increased his share of the vote in Chua Chu Kang to 39.63%, this was lower than the 43.9% gained by the Workers' Party in Aljunied GRC. The role of de facto leader of the opposition in Parliament therefore passed from Chiam to the Workers' Party leader Low.

Withdrawal from the Singapore Democratic Alliance

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The NSP withdrew from the SDA in 2007, but the SPP remained in the alliance with the SJP and PKMS.

In 2010, Chiam tried to bring the Reform Party into the SDA. He reportedly accepted the conditions the RRP set out for joining the alliance, but the terms of entry were opposed by other members of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) who blocked the move. Chiam also suffered a mild stroke in 2008, following which he had to cut back on some of his political activities. This led some CEC members to question whether he was able to properly fulfill his role of Chairman of the alliance.

On 28 February 2011, the CEC voted to relieve Chiam of his role as chairman, however, the CEC stressed that they still hoped to field Chiam as a candidate at the next general election. Chiam had earlier announced his intention to stand in a Group Representation Constituency while leaving the Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency to a successor at the next general election. Two days later, Chiam announced that the party would be withdrawing from the SDA and that he would stand under the banner of the SPP instead of the SDA at the next general election.[3][4] Due to the withdrawal, Chiam's chairman role was succeeded to Desmond Lim, the leader of SJP.

At the elections, Chiam announced that he led his team to contest the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency,[5] leaving his Potong Pasir ward to his wife, Lina Loh Woon Lee (Lina Chiam). This was Loh's debut in politics, although she had tirelessly campaigned with her husband over the years in many general elections in Singapore, including Cairnhill and Potong Pasir constituencies. Chairman Sin was also fielded to contest the newly-formed Hong Kah North SMC, a ward which was formerly part of the Hong Kah GRC (now Chua Chu Kang GRC).

After the polling day, the party was defeated in all the constituencies contested, including Potong Pasir which was reclaimed by the PAP for the first time since 1984; consequently, Chiam's defeat ended his 27-year tenure in Parliament. However, Loh was offered a post for the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) as a result of being the best performing opposition candidate (amongst unelected candidates) after narrowly losing the election 49.64% to the PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin's 50.36% (a margin of 114 votes).[6]

In overall terms, the SPP managed to clinch 41.42% (62,504 votes) of the total number of votes in the constituencies that it contested.

2015 General Elections

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Ahead of the 2015 elections (due to be held 11 September), Chiam announced that he would not stand as a candidate for the elections, for the first time since his debut in 1976.[7] Another opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party, who led by Benjamin Pwee and Hamin Aliyas, joined SPP to strengthen its team contesting Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC.[8] New candidate Ravi Philemon replaced Chairman Sin as candidate for Hong Kah North, while Lina Chiam contested again in Potong Pasir.[9] Former NSP member Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss joined the party prior, and contested Mountbatten SMC just as Chong did in the 2011 elections.

However, the absence of Chiam in the election saw their party suffered another major setback, not only did the party fail to win a parliamentary seat, their scores were overseen by large swings towards the PAP, one of which was Potong Pasir, where Lina Chiam managed to secure only 33.59% of the valid votes, down from 49.64%. Comparing to the Workers' Party's performances (of East Coast GRC, Fengshan SMC and Punggol East SMC), this was not enough for Chiam to secure her NCMP seat for a second term, thus ending their party presence in Parliament since the party foundation. In terms of the party's overall vote, they garnered only 27.08% of the votes cast, a swing of -14.34% from the previous election.

On 1 March 2017, the party reported that former party's chairman Sin died from prostate cancer two days ago.[10]

In January 2018, it was reported that Jose Raymond, a former Press Secretary to Vivian Balakrishnan (who also served as Chief Executive of the Singapore Environment Council and current Minister of Foreign Affairs), had joined the SPP. Also in the same year, WP's Low Thia Khiang surpassed Chiam as the longest-serving opposition MP, having served in Parliament since 1991.

Leadership Transition and 2020 elections

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On 4 September 2019, Chiam announced that he would step down from the secretary-general post due to declining health and Lina Chiam would step down from the chairman post, while the party's Facebook page posted that they would electing a new leader by 16 October on a biennial Ordinary Party Conference, among which Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss would be stepping down from the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC).[11][12] Chiam stepped down on 16 October 2019,[13] with four new faces elected into the Central Executive Committee.[14] On 5 November 2019, Steve Chia was elected as the new Secretary-General of the Singapore People's Party, along with Jose Raymond as Chairman.[1][2]

On the election day on 10 July, the party failed to make headways for the third consecutive election as the party lost to the PAP on both of the two constituencies they contested (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC[15] and Potong Pasir SMC[16]) despite seeing a small anti-PAP vote swing. Their party improved their party's overall vote to 33.83%, but their overall popular vote fell to 1.52%.

On 22 December 2020, SPP Chairman Jose Raymond announced that he was retiring from politics, while revealing that the Assistant Secretary-General, Ariffin Sha, resigned from the party in August.[17] Vice-Chairman Williiamson Lee became Acting Chairman, while Ariffin's position was not filled. The SPP CEC accepted the resignations on 17 January 2021 and co-opted Khan Osman Sulaiman and Melvyn Chiu.[18]

Leadership

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Title Name
Chaiperson Melvyn Chiu
Vice-Chairperson Lina Loh
Secretary-General Steve Chia
Assistant Secretary-General Williiamson Lee
Treasurer Ng Theng Lim
Assistant Treasurer Jalil Wari
Organising Secretary Eddy Tan
Assistant Organising Secretary Yen Kim Khooi
Members Ricky Toh
Kathleen Cheong
Yong Seng Fatt
Shah Shafie

Former elected Members of Parliament

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No Name Constituency Length of service (cumulative) Notes
1 Chiam See Tong Potong Pasir SMC 1997-2011 Previously the party's secretary-general from 1996 to 2019. He served as MP for Potong Pasir SMC (1984-2011). He did not seek re-election in the 2011 general election. Went to contest in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
2 Lina Chiam Non-Constituency Member of Parliament 2011 - 2015 Previously the party's chairman from 2012 to 2019. Contested in Potong Pasir SMC in the 2011 general election.

Electoral history

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Parliamentary elections

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Due to a merger with the Singapore Democratic Alliance in the 2001 and 2006 elections, the number of candidates represented by the Singapore People's Party was displayed in parentheses; the number of elected seats represented shown first was for the Singapore People's Party, and the next by SDA.

Election Seats up for election Seats contested by party Seats won by walkover Contested seats won Contested seats lost Total seats won Change Total votes Share of votes Popular vote Resulting Government Party leader
1997 83 3 0 1 2
1 / 83
 Increase1 16,746 27.2% 2.3% Opposition Chiam See Tong
2001 84 13 (4) 0 1 (1) 11 (3)
1 / 84
1 / 84
 Steady 75,428 27.6% 12.0% Largest Opposition
(+1 NCMP)
2006 84 20 (8) 0 1 (1) 19 (7)
1 / 84
1 / 84
 Steady 145,628 32.5% 13.0% Opposition
2011 87 7 0 0 7
0 / 87
 Decrease1 62,639 41.42% 3.11% No seats
(+1 NCMP)
2015 89 8 0 0 8
0 / 89
 Steady 49,015 27.08% 2.17% No seats Lina Loh
2020 93 5 0 0 5
0 / 93
 Steady 37,869 33.83% 1.52% No seats Steve Chia

References

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  1. ^ a b "SPP elects Steve Chia, Jose Raymond to top posts". CNA. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b Ong, Justin (6 November 2019). "Former NCMP Steve Chia takes over from Chiam See Tong as Singapore People's Party chief". Today. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  3. ^ GE: SDA says Chiam pulling SPP out of alliance Archived 5 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Channel NewsAsia, 2 March 2011
  4. ^ Chiam pulls party out of alliance Archived 6 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Today, 3 March 2011
  5. ^ Ying, Foo Jie; Law, Elizabeth (13 August 2015). "Kopi-tiam style introductions add 'flavour' to heartland politics". The New Paper. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Lina Chiam wants to return to Potong Pasir". The Straits Times. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  7. ^ Ong, Justin (30 August 2015). "SPP, DPP announce candidates for joint Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC team". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 2 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  8. ^ Ong, Justin (29 August 2015). "DPP, SPP reach agreement on Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  9. ^ Hoe, Yeen Nie (22 August 2015). "SPP's Ravi Philemon to contest Hong Kah North SMC". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 24 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  10. ^ Mokhtar, Faris. "SPP founder Sin Kek Tong dies at 72". Today. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Singapore People's Party". Facebook. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  12. ^ "Chiam See Tong to step down as Singapore People's Party secretary-general next month: reports". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 8 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  13. ^ Koh, Fabian (16 October 2019). "Chiam See Tong steps down as SPP chief, ending storied political career that spanned more than four decades". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  14. ^ Wong, Pei Ting (17 October 2019). "4 new faces voted into Singapore People's Party CEC as veteran Chiam steps down". Today. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  15. ^ "GE2020 official results: PAP wins Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in 3rd successive challenge by SPP". Straits Times. 10 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  16. ^ "GE2020 official results: PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin wins third term as Potong Pasir MP with 60.69% of votes". Straits Times. 10 July 2020. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  17. ^ "SPP chairman Jose Raymond retires from politics to focus on his business". The Straits Times. 22 December 2020.
  18. ^ Romero, Anna Maria (18 January 2021). "SPP accepts chairman's resignation, will remain in Potong Pasir for next polls". The Independent Singapore News. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
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