PSP gains encouragement from West Coast GRC voters following Iswaran charged in court

SINGAPORE: Amid growing speculation of an early General Election (GE) following Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s announcement to pass the baton to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, alternative parties in Singapore have intensified their grassroots walkabouts.

Particularly, the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), which narrowly missed winning West Coast GRC in the last election, has shown a strong commitment to engaging with grassroots communities in the constituency.

The party has bolstered its presence during walkabouts, as evidenced by updates on the party’s and its members’ social media pages.

In a recent post, the party shared that its team members visited the Ayer Rajah ward.

They noted that with the anticipation of an upcoming GE, they received words of encouragement from residents and feedback on various issues ranging from the cost of living to municipal concerns.

The post highlighted that a resident praised the parliamentary performance of both Mr Leong Mun Wai and Ms Hazel Poa, PSP Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs), despite the party having only two seats in a chamber dominated by the ruling party.

” In response, we promised him that we will continue to do our best to speak up for Singaporeans, ” the post concluded.

Who will be PAP’s potential candidate to replace Iswaran?

Earlier, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, PSP Chairman has not ruled out the possibility of contesting in the upcoming GE.

Under the leadership of 83-year-old Dr Tan, PSP has been actively engaging in grassroots efforts in West Coast GRC.

This surge in activity follows the resignation of former Transport Minister S Iswaran from Parliament and the PAP. Iswaran faced total of 35 charges, including corruption allegations, prompting his departure.

Questions have arisen following Iswaran’s departure regarding who the ruling party will appoint to replace him and defend the GRC alongside other PAP MPs.

Observing the social media posts of West Coast MPs, signs indicate that Ms Chua Wei-Shan, Young PAP Organising Secretary, maintains an active public presence, along with Desmond Lee, the Minister for National Development, during the party’s West Coast walkabouts.

Ms Chua, who is also a PAP member of the West Coast division, was featured in the November 2023 PAP Convention.

New faces who have spoken at past PAP conventions typically have gone on to become potential GE candidates for the ruling party.

According to Ms Chua’s LinkedIn profile, she holds the position of Executive Director at BX Creatives, a product design, manufacturing, and sourcing company.

TODAY reported that Ms Chua has been a party member since 2012 and began volunteering in the community over 20 years ago under the guidance of her father.

During the PAP convention, the 36-year-old expressed that becoming the organising secretary of the Young PAP allows her to “work with people who share a common goal.”

She emphasized that regardless of one’s ambitions, every Singaporean aspires towards a good work-life balance.

“I constantly remind myself and my team to have an empathetic and welcoming attitude towards fellow volunteers, especially those who may have temporarily stepped aside due to personal or professional commitments,” she said.

Desmond Lee acknowledges Iswaran’s corruption probe had ‘big impact’ on West Coast GRC ahead of GE

Nevertheless, Desmond Lee in a January interview with  The Straits Times and Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao acknowledged that the corruption probe against Mr Iswaran has indeed had a “big impact” on West Coast GRC under the PAP team.

Mr Lee, who supervises the Boon Lay ward in West Coast GRC, expressed concern about the CPIB’s investigation into the Minister, labelling it as a “very worrying development.”

Despite the ongoing situation, Mr Lee emphasized that their primary objective remains unchanged: serving the residents without any disruption to the essential services they rely on.

On the other hand, Dr Tan expressed optimism about the impact of Iswaran’s departure on the PSP chances in West Coast GRC in the next GE.

“Of course, we hope that will help us, but I think it all depends on the electorate, how we perform,” Dr Tan said.

He conveyed the party’s ambition to secure more seats in Parliament, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating the capability of PSP members.

“We must show Singaporeans that we have capable people in the House,” he added.

PAP narrowly secured West Coast GRC during the GE2020

During GE 2020, under the leadership of S. Iswaran and Desmond Lee, the PAP team narrowly clinched victory with 51.69 per cent of the votes, securing the seat against the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) led by veteran politician Dr Tan Cheng Bock.

This marked a notable decline of 26 percentage points in the PAP’s vote share from the 2015 election, where they garnered a commanding 78.57 per cent against the Reform Party (RP).

The PSP secured 48.31 per cent of the vote, accumulating 138,416 valid votes out of 146,251 cast.

Besides Dr Tan, The PSP candidates consist of  Ms Hazel Poa, Mr Leong Mun Wai, Mr Jeffrey Khoo and Mr Nadarajah Loganathan.

Since its establishment in 1997, the West Coast GRC has previously experienced two walkovers and faced challenges from the Workers’ Party and the Reform Party.

However, until this recent election, the PAP had never secured less than 66.6 per cent of the votes in the region.

Dr Tan, a former PAP backbencher, founded the alternative party PSP in March 2019.

During the GE2020, the PSP fielded candidates across nine constituencies, vying for a total of 24 seats.

Speculation suggests that in the aftermath of an extramarital affair scandal involving former Parliamentary Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and former Tampines MP Cheng Li Hui, the Minister Iswaran corruption charges and the Ridout Road controversy involving Ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan, alternative parties might have an increased likelihood of challenging PAP strongholds.

Of notable importance is the prevailing group sentiment regarding concerns about the cost of living, inflation, housing, and job insecurity, which significantly influences the ground-level support for the ruling party.