The dummy's guide to Singapore's political parties: The PPP edition

Unless you've been living under a rock, you should have some inkling of the People's Action Party (PAP) and the Workers' Party (WP).

But what about RP? Or PSP? Or SDP? If these acronyms mean nothing to you, then you're in the right place.

In this series — a cheat sheet of sorts — we sieve out the facts you ought to know about Singapore's political parties.

By the end of this, you should have a better idea of the parties who may be contesting in the upcoming general election and what they're all about.

Our next party may be one of the newest on the scene, but it's helmed by veteran politician Goh Meng Seng

People's Power Party

When were they formed?

Goh started out in politics in 2001 under the WP banner before joining the National Solidarity Party (NSP) in 2007.

After quitting NSP in 2011, he resurfaced before the 2015 election with the announcement that he would set up a new political party, PPP.

He had decided to found a new party partly due to the death of Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Goh told reporters.

"Now that Mr Lee is gone, there's no one else who has such a strong political morality who can control everyone. Things can go wrong.

"The only way to provide sustainability is when power is separated into different parties that can act as checks and balances."

Goh's decision to found a new opposition party instead of joining an existing one was also because he wanted to avoid disrupting other parties' election preparations and management styles, he said.

What are they all about?

PPP is a democratic socialist party that advocates the separation of five powers — executive, legislative, judiciary, impeachment and selection — in order to have a balanced and effective system.

It also believes that the president should have more power and play a more active role.

For the upcoming election, the party's slogan is "Strong United Parliament" and it's pushing for:

• The government to review its decision to increase goods and services tax (GST) from 7 per cent to 9 per cent. The GST hike is slated for sometime between 2022 and 2025.
• A reduction in spending on infrastructure and defence
• More affordable healthcare
• The government to stop changing rules on the CPF minimum sum and withdrawal age

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Goh has also put forward several suggestions to improve MacPherson SMC, where he's contesting, including:

• Carry out Home Improvement Programme (HIP), Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (Vers) or Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers) "as soon as possible" in the SMC
• Build a community hospital in the estate
• Set up a free traditional Chinese medicine clinic and soup kitchen to aid vulnerable residents
• Set up counselling services

Where are they contesting?

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PPP is only fielding one candidate, Goh, in the upcoming General Election after its second potential candidate was not able to return to Singapore due to travel restrictions.

Goh will go up against PAP's Tin Pei Ling in MacPherson SMC.

Track record

In the 2015 General Election — PPP's first — the party went head to head with the incumbent PAP at Chua Chu Kang GRC.

The PPP team, consisting of Goh Meng Seng, Syafarin Sarif, Low Wai Choo and Lee Tze Shih, lost to the PAP team led by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, obtaining 23.1 per cent of the vote.

With Goh declaring that this election will be his last, the future of the party remains unclear. 

In case you missed it

Here are the other parties we've covered:

• People's Action Party
• Workers' Party
• Democratic Progressive Party
• Singapore Democratic Party
• National Solidarity Party
• Singapore People's Party
• Reform Party

Stay tuned for the next instalment in the series — Red Dot United.

kimberlylim@asiaone.com