GE2025: After poor showing, PSP vows to regroup, but can it reinvent itself to be relevant?

Straits Times

03-05-2025

PSP chief Leong Mun Wai speaking to the media outside the party's headquarters on May 3. ST PHOTO KELVIN CHNG
News analysis GE2025: After poor showing, PSP vows to regroup, but can it reinvent itself to be relevant?
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SINGAPORE - From one election to the next, the PSP has gone from being a political upstart with two Non-Constituency MP seats in Parliament to an opposition party with an unclear future.
The party fielded 13 candidates in six constituencies, and lost all of them – including West Coast-Jurong West GRC where it was said to have the best chances of winning.
The PSP also contested Chua Chu Kang GRC, and the Pioneer, Bukit Gombak, Kebun Baru and Marymount SMCs.
The outcome, with the PSP obtaining between 24.17 and 39.99 per cent of the vote share across the six constituencies, means that it will lose both its NCMP seats.
Reserved for the election's best losers , the role seems likely to go to the WP's candidates from Jalan Kayu SMC and Tampines GRC, who lost narrowly to the PAP.
PSP will lose its parliamentary presence.
And what of its future, when it does not seem to have been able to attract younger candidates, or individuals who seem to stand out more, such as those fielded by the WP?
In GE2020, the PSP was a newly-formed political party that made a mark because of its founder – former PAP stalwart Tan Cheng Bock.
It also made headlines in the lead up to that election when it announced that Mr Lee Hsien Yang, the estranged brother of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, had joined the party.
That year, the PSP built its campaign on the need for a greater opposition presence in Parliament as a check on the PAP.
It was a message that seemed to resonate with the electorate, and allowed the PSP, with a team comprising its three leaders Dr Tan, party chief Leong Mun Wai, and party first vice-chair Hazel Poa, to capture 48.32 per cent of the vote share in the then-West Coast GRC.
But ahead of GE2025, the boundaries for the constituency were redrawn, with about 41,000 voters from Jurong GRC – mainly from Jurong Spring and Taman Jurong, both considered PAP strongholds – added to the renamed West Coast–Jurong West GRC.
The changes in electoral boundaries could be a reason for the outcome in GE2025, but it is unlikely to be the only one.
During the 2025 hustings, the PSP's five new faces - Mr Lawrence Pek, Ms Stephanie Tan, Mr Sumarleki Amjah, Mr Sani Ismail and Mr Tony Tan - did not seem able to capture the public's attention in the same way that political newcomers from other opposition parties had managed to.
For example, the WP fielded a slew of candidates with notable backgrounds, such as senior counsel Harpreet Singh, 59, and ex-MFA diplomat Eileen Chong, 33, who drew the crowds at rallies.
The PSP had fielded as part of its slate for Chua Chu Kang GRC the former secretary-general of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation Lawrence Pek – a candidate who was touted as the party's 'star catch'.
But he and his team were unable to best their opponents, a team led by Manpower Minister and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng.
The party also relied on the strong branding of its founder, which some political analysts dubbed the 'Tan Cheng Bock' effect. In GE2025, as the results have borne out, it is no longer enough.
Given that this could be the final general election Dr Tan, 85, is contesting, it is vital that the party develops a reputation that grows on that of its founder, if it wants to remain relevant going forward.
Observers have pointed out that the PSP seems to struggle to attract young talent.
Of its five new faces this election, only one is under 40 – the party's candidate for Pioneer SMC, Ms Stephanie Tan, a 37-year-old homemaker with a law degree.
In an interview on The Straits Times' current affairs podcast The Usual Place, Ms Poa said that the party has been trying to recruit younger candidates.
'But the problem that we have been facing is that they're usually more hesitant. A lot of them actually worry about their career prospects if they are seen to be opposition candidates,' she said.
Winning a constituency during the election would help the party overcome this hurdle and persuade more people to come forward, she added.
Given the latest results, the party's strategy of recruiting fresh talent will have to be relooked.
The PSP's lacklustre performance this GE was surprising, since it had time to build up a track record in Parliament with its NCMPs.
Over the past five years, Mr Leong and Ms Poa had gone up against the PAP in Parliamentary debates, sparring on national issues such as the GST hike, public housing and foreign workers.
The PSP had highlighted this track record during the campaign, and issued invitations to opponents in the various constituencies to debate on national issues.
None of the PAP teams in those wards took them up on their offer, with Mr Desmond Lee, the anchor minister for the PAP team contesting West Coast-Jurong West GRC, asking voters to instead scrutinise contesting parties' plans for the area.
In response, Mr Leong had said the main role of an elected MP was not to manage estates, but to debate national policies.
The PSP went on to raise various issues on the campaign trail, including on a universal minimum wage and reversal of the GST increase.
But PSP may have misread the desire for debate on national policies, especially given the geopolitical headwinds resulting from US President Donald Trump's new tariffs worldwide.
The PSP had called the government's response to the tariff situation 'overblown'.
But the PAP's outstanding performance this GE with 65.57 p er cent of the vote share is a signal that Singaporeans have less desire to rock the political boat, given the choppy seas ahead.
Finally, the PSP had experienced a change of leadership right before the hustings, with Mr Leong 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.
He had stepped down as secretary-general in February 2024, to take responsibility for a correction direction he received under Singapore's fake news law for a social media post. Ms Poa had taken over the role then, only to relinquish it to Mr Leong just before the election was called. This change would undeniably have had an impact on the party's campaign strategy.
When the results were revealed, Mr Leong said they were shocking, but thanked voters who had supported his party. It will study the results seriously and humbly, and reconsider how it can gain further trust from Singaporeans, he told reporters.
The PSP's performance in GE2025 is undoubtedly a setback.
How it does in the next election hinges on whether it is able to pick itself up and shape a clear identity before then.
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