GE2025: PSP's poor showing shows need for party to rethink branding, policy proposals, say analysts

Straits Times

04-05-2025

SINGAPORE - The opposition PSP's poor showing in the 2025 General Election signals the need for the party to brand itself beyond its founder as well as reflect on its policies' resonance with voters, said political observers.
Experts noted that the party still relied on the branding of its founder Tan Cheng Bock - who contributed to the party's strong showing in the 2020 polls - and that it is not making headway in transitioning away from it.
Political analyst Loke Hoe Yeong said that the presence of two of their leaders - party chief Leong Mun Wai and first vice-chair Hazel Poa - in the 14th Parliament as non-constituency MPs did not help PSP gain the traction it desired at the polls.
Dr Tan remained the most recognisable figure in the party during the hustings, he added.
'For too long, the PSP had been too reliant on Tan Cheng Bock's symbolic leadership and public recognisability,' he said. 'Questions will now be asked as to whether the PSP has done enough to prepare for the post-Tan Cheng Bock era.'
The party had said during the campaign that the 2025 General Election will likely be the last one that Dr Tan, 85, will contest.
PSP had fielded 13 candidates in six constituencies, and obtained between 24.17 and 39.99 per cent of the vote share, including in West Coast-Jurong West GRC, where it had sent its A-team including Dr Tan, Mr Leong and Ms Poa.
The results also mean that the PSP will lose its parliamentary presence, since NCMP seats are given to the top losers of the polls – a title that now belongs to the WP.
The influence of Dr Tan had waned in the 2025 polls, as compared with the 2020 General Election when he was portrayed as a 'larger-than-life persona', said observers.
In 2020, when the election was mainly held online due to Covid-19 restrictions, the party had capitalised the star power of the octogenarian.
He was in touch with the younger audience and experimented with slangs like 'hypebeast' – a person in tune with the latest trends – and became an unlikely Instagram hit for his 'hypebeast ah gong' persona.
'A lot of it was done online, and there were a lot of memes that came out regarding Dr Tan that were very popular. We didn't see that this time round,' said Associate Professor Chong Ja Ian from NUS' department of political science.
As Associate Professor Eugene Tan, a political analyst and law don at the Singapore Management University noted: 'The party has not built on its maiden showing in 2020. It is a relatively new party but has not conveyed its youthful appeal in any significant way'. PSP was founded in 2019.
During this election, the PSP had launched a strong campaign around its ability to debate policies with the PAP, building on the parliamentary performance of its two NCMPs.
But observers said the party's policies may have fallen flat with some voters.
SMU's Prof Tan said the policy alternatives proposed by the party could come across as being 'too radical and fiscally unsustainable'.
The party's manifesto had set out over 60 policy ideas including reversing the GST hike, imposing a universal minimum wage and making housing more affordable by exempting Singaporeans from the cost of the land their flats are built on, unless they later sell the units.
Other ideas they propose are nationalisation of the MediShield Life and CareShield Life schemes, creation of statutory retrenchment benefits that are legally binding and introduction of a new levy of $1,200 per month on EP holders.
It also proposes that more support be given for mental health services and an increase of annual leave entitlement from seven to 14 days.
Commenting on their proposals in general, IPS Social Lab adjunct principal research fellow and academic adviser Tan Ern Ser said the recommendations may be attractive to some voters, but that others may find that the proposals are not helpful to Singapore in the longer term.
'I think its narrative was getting too populist-oriented and this does not go down well with the low-income who benefited from the Assurance Package,' he said, referring to the Government scheme to help households cope with rising cost of living.
It may also fail to strike a chord with the middle-income earners who are 'critical, informed citizens who understand the need for prudence, and to recognise trade-offs, and strike a balance between meeting immediate needs and long term planning', he said.
'Nevertheless, it is important to give more support to citizens when it is 'raining', but without abandoning prudence and future generations,' IPS Social Lab's Dr Tan added.
SMU's Assoc Prof Tan said: 'Finding issues that resonate with voters is the easy part. Proposing alternative policies, however, is the real challenge.
'This is where the PSP either reveals its lack of policy nous or its reliance on seemingly radical measures, which helps draw attention to itself but voters may find lack viability.'
Observers also noted the frequent changes of the party's secretary-general within the party.
Since its founding in 2019, PSP saw a change of hands four times. Right before the hustings, Mr Leong was re-elected as party chief on March 26. He is the party's fifth leader since it was founded in 2019, after first becoming secretary-general in April 2023.
This has not helped perceptions of the party's internal stability, said Mr Loke.
Observers said it now remains to be seen on how the party intends to reinvent itself to appeal to voters, and the need for the party to have a strong identity beyond its founder Dr Tan.
Independent political observer Felix Tan said: 'There is a strong need for PSP to position itself with a clear identity, especially in a political field that has been dominated by one party.'
Overall, observers say that while the party has kept the ruling party on their toes with their parliamentary questions, PSP will need a clearer direction, and rethink its strategy and core objectives moving forward.
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