GE2025: PSP says it has been hard at work despite the redrawn boundaries, is ready to engage voters
The party has yet to confirm its line-up of candidates and where they will be deployed
[SINGAPORE] The opposition Progress Singapore Party has been hard at work to prepare for the 2025 General Election despite the redrawn boundaries and the short time to engage new residents, said party chief Leong Mun Wai on Apr 15.
“Hazel and I have worked hard in Parliament over the past five years, having filed over 700 parliamentary questions, eight private member’s full motions, six adjournment motions and one private member’s Bill, the only one to have been filed by an opposition MP,” said Leong in a statement after the Writ of Election was issued, paving the way for a May 3 ballot.
He was referring to Hazel Poa, the party’s first vice-chairperson. Both Leong and Poa are incumbent Non-Constituency MPs (NCMPs).
“PSP stands on our track record, and we are ready to engage the voters to buy into our vision of ‘Progress For All’ for Singapore,” he said. “Progress For All” is the party’s new campaign slogan.
At roughly 8pm on Apr 15, PSP members, including leaders and potential candidates, streamed into the party headquarters in Upper Bukit Timah Road for a meeting to discuss plans following the confirmation of the election timeline.
Potential candidates, including Lawrence Pek, Sani Ismail and Wendy Low, were among more than 20 people who were seen entering the office.
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The party has yet to confirm its line-up of candidates and where they will be deployed.
Poa was also seen entering the office via the back door. She declined to comment when approached by the media.
Speaking to the media, Leong said the party’s candidates will be confirmed over “the next few days”.
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Former Workers’ Party MP Leon Perera was also seen entering the PSP headquarters in the evening.
In a Facebook post on Apr 15, he said the party has put forward “sensible ideas for policy formation and holding the government to account”.
He had also been seen at several PSP events and posted about it on social media as early as 2024.
Asked on Apr 15 about his role with PSP in the upcoming election, Perera declined to comment.
Singaporeans will cast their votes on May 3 in a general election that will be fought against a backdrop of unprecedented global economic instability.
Nomination Day will be on Apr 23, giving candidates the minimum nine days of campaigning before Cooling-off Day on May 2.
The date of the general election – which will be Lawrence Wong’s first as Prime Minister and secretary-general of the ruling PAP – was announced on Apr 15. It came an hour after President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, dissolved Singapore’s 14th Parliament.
The country will elect 97 MPs in 33 constituencies – 18 group representation constituencies and 15 single seats. There will be nine nomination centres.
In a Facebook post on Apr 15, PSP also featured a video lasting almost five minutes highlighting the contributions Leong and Poa have made over the past five years in Parliament.
The video highlighted issues raised by the NCMPs in Parliament, such as the GST hike, the need to reduce healthcare costs, the need to make homes more affordable through a scheme to lower the cost of HDB flats, and better transport options for the western region, among others.
“Over the past five years, we have done our best for you as NCMPs. As fully elected MPs, we will do better,” the PSP said in the video.
On Mar 11, changes in electoral boundaries were made to several constituencies, including West Coast GRC where PSP has been active.
At GE2020, PSP contested West Coast GRC with a slate that included Leong and Poa, and lost to a PAP team led by former transport minister S Iswaran.
The PAP won the constituency by the narrowest margin in that election, getting 51.68 per cent of the vote against the PSP.
But with the changes, the constituency’s borders have shifted. It will absorb parts of Jurong GRC and become West Coast-Jurong West GRC when Singaporeans go to the polls.
West Coast GRC is also ceding areas including HarbourFront and Sentosa to the new Radin Mas SMC, and Dover and Telok Blangah to Tanjong Pagar GRC.
The PSP has been active on the ground in Telok Blangah over the last five years.
The party has said that it will contest West Coast-Jurong West and Chua Chu Kang GRCs as well as Marymount, Kebun Baru and Pioneer SMCs in the upcoming election. THE STRAITS TIMES
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