PSP's CEC renewal shows its commitment to being a reasonable alternative choice, says Stephanie Tan

Straits Times

2 days ago

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SINGAPORE - Recent changes to the Progress Singapore Party's (PSP) senior leadership represents 'the first step' of its plans to come back from a disappointing performance at GE2025, said PSP's Ms Stephanie Tan.
Besides nurturing new leaders, the PSP intends to update its image by putting more of its younger members in the public eye, and to find new ways to engage Singaporeans on important national issues, Ms Tan told The Straits Times on July 10.
On July 5, PSP announced that party founder and chairman Tan Cheng Bock had
stepped down from its central executive committee (CEC) , alongside vice-chair and former Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) Hazel Poa. Party treasurer S. Nallakaruppan also relinquished his position.
In their place, Ms Tan, 37, was co-opted as a new CEC member, together with Mr Sani Ismail and Mr Lawrence Pek. The three of them had been first-time PSP candidates at the May general election.
Speaking on ST's The Usual Place Podcast show, Ms Tan said PSP had been gathering feedback from Singaporeans in the two months since GE2025 to 'know where we went wrong and how we can do better'.
PSP had fielded 13 candidates in six constituencies, but
saw its vote share decline compared to its first electoral outing in 2020. It also failed to keep its parliamentary presence compared to the previous term, when it had two NCMPs.
'We might seem to have been a bit slow in coming up with a response right after the GE, but that's because we were hard hit, to be honest, and we took time (to) come up with a new plan to see how we can steer this ship forward,' said Ms Tan, who ran in Pioneer against the PAP's Patrick Tay.
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'In the next four to five years, we want to continue to make an impact even if we have no parliamentary presence.'
Ms Tan said one of the main things PSP is tackling is perceptions by some that it is an ageing political party, and that the latest leadership shake-up has the support of party chief Leong Mun Wai and the CEC.
'The party does have a pool of young talent,' she said, citing the two elected CEC members who are younger than her: deputy organising secretary Soh Zheng Long, 36, and youth wing head Samuel Lim, 29.
'It is just that, for the past few years, they have been working mostly behind the scenes.'
Going forward, the party will give more opportunities to its younger members to raise their public profile, although this has to be balanced with each individual's comfort level at being openly associated with an alternative party.
PSP also intends to hold outreach events targeted at specific demographics, alongside the usual walkabouts and house visits.
This could include visits to nursing homes to understand issues faced by elderly residents, their family members and the staff, which could be due to 'certain gaps in the policies that we have', said Ms Tan.
The party is also thinking of starting a podcast, and wants to up its game on social media to keep putting out its views on key issues, she added.
On Dr Tan's move to step down as PSP's chairman, Ms Tan said this is to give party leaders 'a clean slate to work from, away from his shadow'. Dr Tan, 85, has been designated party adviser.
Having set its foundations and core values, he trusts that the other party leaders can take PSP forward in the long political journey to come, said Ms Tan.
'He said that he will not interfere on his own initiative. He will help when help is asked for,' she said.
A homemaker and former lawyer, Ms Tan said she sees her role on the CEC as a progression from leading her own campaign during the election, to making decisions at the party level.
While the party is no longer in Parliament, she hopes that Singaporeans can take a long-term perspective on the PSP's journey.
She noted that other opposition parties like the Workers' Party and Singapore Democratic Party have been around for decades, and their experience showed that it takes a lot of time and consistent effort to build a political party and gain the trust of voters.
'Our commitment to Singaporeans is still that we want to continue to build ourselves to be a credible, rational, alternative political party, to give Singaporeans a choice at the ballot box,' she said.