People's Power Party (Singapore)

People's Power Party
  • Parti Kuasa Rakyat (Malay)
  • 人民力量党 (Chinese)
  • Rénmín Lìliàng Dǎng
  • மக்கள் சக்தி கட்ச (Tamil)
  • Makkaḷ Cakti Kaṭci
AbbreviationPPP
ChairmanSyafarin Sarif
Secretary-GeneralGoh Meng Seng
FounderGoh Meng Seng
FoundedMay 19, 2015 (2015-05-19)
Split fromNational Solidarity Party
Headquarters39A Jalan Pemimpin #07-07, Singapore 577183
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing[6]
Colours  Light Purple
Parliament
0 / 104
Website
https://peoplespowerparty.sg/

The People's Power Party (PPP) is a right-wing, democratic socialist[7] political party in Singapore.

History and political development

[edit]

The PPP was formed by veteran politician Goh Meng Seng on 16 July 2015 just a few months prior to the election held that year. He advocated a governance system based on Sun Yat-sen's principles of the Separation of Five Powers.[8] Goh had previously served as a member of the Worker's Party (WP) and National Solidarity Party (NSP), in 2006 and 2011, respectively. In the aftermath of the 2011 election, Goh resigned from NSP's Secretary General position, and relinquished his party membership.

2015 General Election

[edit]

The PPP contested the four-member Chua Chu Kang GRC, with a team consisting of Goh, Lee Tze Shih, Low Wai Choo and former NSP member Syafarin Sarif, against the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) team of Gan Kim Yong, Low Yen Ling, Zaqy Mohamad and Yee Chia Hsing. The PAP team defeated the party with a vote share of 76.83%-23.11%, which was 84,731 and 25,460 votes, respectively. The PPP team's Low was notable for being convicted for an act of public nuisance for her role in a Hong Lim Park protest rally in 2014, while Lee joined the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) in 2019.

Goh was surprised by the number of voters that turned out to vote for the PPP, as they were among the worst performing candidates in the election despite his status as a veteran politician. He claimed that this was as his party lacked media coverage. Shortly after the election, he returned to Hong Kong to reside with his family.

In 2018, PPP along with six other opposition parties: Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), NSP, Reform Party (RP), Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Singaporeans First (SF) and Peoples Voice (PV), and led by former PAP member of parliament and presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock, discussed the possibility of forming a coalition for the next election.[9]

In March 2020, the PPP, SF, RP and DPP applied to join the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA).[10]

2020 General Election

[edit]

The PPP participated in the 2020 election, fielding their only candidate Goh to contest the MacPherson SMC.[11] On 27 June, Goh confirmed that this was to be his final election, reiterating his belief that he could contribute more to Parliament as an opposition member if elected, while praising the incumbent Tin Pei Ling for her dedication.[12] Goh was defeated by a 71.74%-28.26% vote share.[13]

People's Alliance for Reform

[edit]
Main article: People's Alliance for Reform

By 21 November 2024, the PPP had formed the People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) with three other parties: DPP, RP and PV.[14] On 23 February 2025, it was announced that the PPP had withdrawn from the coalition, citing strategic differences, though it was stated that the PPP would remain open to future collaboration with PAR.[15]

2025 General Election

[edit]

After the release of the new electoral boundaries, Goh reversed his commitment not to contest the election. On 3 March 2025, he announced on a Facebook post that the PPP would be contesting Nee Soon GRC due to believing that PAP might field a “well known LGBTQ activist” in the area. Goh stated that his party took a “firm stance” against the “LGBTQ agenda”, as they viewed it as a threat to the “sustainability” of Singapore’s population growth.[16] It was also later announced that the party would be running in Tampines GRC, Ang Mo Kio GRC, Tampines Changkat SMC and Jalan Kayu SMC. This appeared to conflict with the plans of other opposition parties, such as Red Dot United (RDU) and PAR.[17]

Later on 16 March, Goh revealed he would be “glad” to withdraw from the competition in Nee Soon GRC, provided the PAP did not field the aforementioned activist.[18] Subsequently, the PPP did so on 22 March under an agreement that would allow RDU to have a “clean fight” with the PAP team there.[19]

Manifesto

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Objectives

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The official objectives of the PPP are:[20]

  • To develop a one united Singapore with true multi-party democracy and an economic system based on the principles of democratic socialism.
  • To install a system of governance with proper balance and separation of five powers with socialist measures in place to cushion off the wealth and income inequalities so as to achieve stability, continuity and sustainability for Singapore.
  • To advocate, promote and implement policies, when elected as ruling party or part of any ruling coalition, which are based on the PPP's core values and ideologies as stipulated above.
  • To build and maintain a strong national identity and loyalty to Singapore based on its' unique multi-ethnic mix and cultural identities, with emphasis on the ideals of unity, multi-culturalism, justice, equality and democracy as expounded in the national pledge of Singapore.

Policies

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The PPP firmly believes that democracy provides the necessary balance of powers needed for the long-term stability of Singapore. This is achieved through the distinct separation of five powers, which are:[20]

  1. Executive
  2. Legislative
  3. Judiciary
  4. Impeachment
  5. Selection

The PPP finds that in order to achieve an effective and functioning democracy via separation of these five powers, the President of Singapore should be empowered to effectively oversee the faculties of Impeachment and Selection in the form of:[20]

In contrast, there are only three branches (Judiciary, Executive and Legislative) of the state as of 2025, and the President, as head of state, does not fall into any of the branches.[21]

The PPP has also called for the introduction of a minimum wage in Singapore.[22]

Leadership

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The PPP's leader is its Secretary-General, Goh Meng Seng. As a veteran opposition politician, Goh had contested Aljunied GRC under the WP in a team which included Sylvia Lim and James Gomez in the 2006 general election. He also contested Tampines GRC while leading the NSP in the 2011 general election.

List of secretaries-general

[edit]
No Years Name
1 2015 - Incumbent Goh Meng Seng

Current CEC members

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The PPP announced its 5th Central Executive Committee members on 7 November 2024, which are as follows:[23][24]

Title Name
Honorary Chairman & Advisor to CEC Syafarin bin Sariff
Chairman Derrick Sim
Vice-Chairman Sharon Lin Yihui
Secretary-General Goh Meng Seng
Assistant Secretary General Michael Fang Amin
Treasurer Lim Lian Chin William
Organizing Secretary James Boo Cheng Hoe@James Care
Assistant Organizing Secretary Tan Meng Lock
Media Team Lee Yu Ru Samuel
Soh Ying Ping Jonathan
Member Martinn Ho Yuen Liung
Ray Chan Swee Cheong

Election results

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Parliament

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Election Leader Votes % Seats NCMPs Position Result
Contested Total +/–
Seats Won Lost
2015 Goh Meng Seng 25,475 1.13% 4 0 4
0 / 89
 Steady
0 / 3
 Increase 9th No seats
2020 7,489 0.3% 1 0 1
0 / 93
 Steady
0 / 2
 Decrease 11th No seats
2025 10
0 / 97

Seats contested

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Election Constituencies contested Contested Vote %[25] +/–
2015 4-member GRC: Chua Chu Kang 23.1% —
2020 SMC: MacPherson 28.3% Increase 5.2%
2025 5-member GRC: Ang Mo Kio, Tampines

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Ting, Wong Pei; Sun, David (22 February 2025). "People's Power Party withdraws from four-party opposition alliance led by Lim Tean". The Straits Times. Retrieved 4 March 2025.: “Our manifesto is coming up. It is going to be pro-family... We are against the LGBT agenda.”
  2. ^ "Vaccine Mandatory Order – Full Power but Zero Accountability". Peoples Power Party - Quality Life for all Singaporeans. 27 February 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Goh Meng Seng says PPP will run in Nee Soon, will take firm stance against 'LGBTQ agenda' for S'pore's survival". Mothership. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  4. ^ "POFMA correction direction issued to Goh Meng Seng over COVID-19 Omicron variant falsehoods". Channel NewsAsia. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  5. ^ "Our Party's Manifesto – Make Singapore Home Again". People’s Power Party. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  6. ^ [3][4][5]
  7. ^ "People's Power Party's Beliefs". People's Power Party.
  8. ^ "People's Power Party 9th Anniversary 2024 Fundraising Dinner Speech by Goh Meng Seng". People's Power Party.
  9. ^ "7 opposition parties discuss forming a new coalition, invite former PAP MP Tan Cheng Bock to be leader". 28 July 2018.
  10. ^ Koh, Fabian (1 April 2020). "Singapore GE: Four parties apply to join Singapore Democratic Alliance instead of registering new alliance". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  11. ^ Wong, Cara (23 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: People's Power Party to contest MacPherson and Radin Mas SMCs". The Straits Times. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  12. ^ Lau, Jean (27 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: This election will be PPP's Goh Meng Seng's last". The Straits Times. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  13. ^ Lau, Jean (11 July 2020). "GE2020 official results: PAP's Tin Pei Ling retains MacPherson with 71.74% of votes against PPP". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Four opposition parties to form new alliance ahead of the next GE". 21 November 2024.
  15. ^ "People's Power Party withdraws from four-party opposition alliance led by Lim Tean". The Straits Times. 22 February 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  16. ^ "Goh Meng Seng says PPP will run in Nee Soon, will take firm stance against 'LGBTQ agenda' for S'pore's survival". Mothership. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  17. ^ "People's Power Party eyes five constituencies in GE2025, faces potential multi-cornered fights". The Online Citizen. 11 March 2025. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
  18. ^ "Goh Meng Seng says PPP won't contest Nee Soon GRC if PAP not fielding LGBTQ activist". mothership.sg. 18 March 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  19. ^ "GE2025: PPP to step aside in Nee Soon GRC and let RDU contest as opposition party". CNA. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  20. ^ a b c "About us". Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  21. ^ "About the legal system". Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  22. ^ PPP's official Facebook site - 11 August 2015
  23. ^ "5th CEC members". People's Power Party Facebook. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  24. ^ "反对党人民力量党中委会改选 吴明盛再次出任党秘书长". No. 7 November 2024. Zaobao. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  25. ^ "Singapore Elections".
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