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Progress Singapore Party (PSP) held a press conference on May 27, 2023, to talk about how its new leadership will position the party for the future as well as the next General Election.
Joined by Chairman Tan Cheng Bock and Vice-Chairman Hazel Poa, Secretary-General Leong Mun Wai gave a speech to the media on how Singaporeans should put the past behind them and think about what they want for the future.
PSP to cultivate more ground support
In his speech, he highlighted that nine of the 14 new central committee members had served on the previous committee as PSP does not want to create drastic changes to their structure and cause a continuity issue.
Leong explained that as the new Secretary-General of PSP, he would build on the values and the structures that Tan and the previous secretary-general Francis Yuen had put in.
His immediate task now, however, is to rally members and volunteers to direct energy onto the ground to cultivate more support for the party.
Leong Mun Wai calls for Singaporeans to look beyond the past
He also took the opportunity to express appreciation to Tan for being the" heart and soul "of the party — providing his values and spirit for its foundation.
He said PSP is unlike "some other parties" with long histories and groups of supporters with strong beliefs based on "past experiences".
He emphasised that PSP is founded on "values of selflessness and desire to serve the country" and hope that people see them as such a party.
"No baggage of the past, and we will continue to work hard to show Singaporeans that we have a party that lives up to our values. "
Will unveil future plans in coming months
Leong conceded that there's "still a lot of work" that PSP needs to do to gain Singaporeans' recognition.
He revealed that the party will unveil their plans over the next six to 12 months.
Leong highlighted that he had already presented policies in Parliament, which indicated how the party envisions society should progress and showed that they are a compassionate party that "values democracy very much".
Open-minded about "opposition alliance"
Leong said that PSP also has "initial ideas" for the next General Election and discussed whether PSP would be involved in an "opposition alliance".
"I think I can say upfront that we will be very keen to facilitate closer cooperation between opposition parties. Because as our democracy matures, there'll be more and more room for a diversity of views and opinions. "
However, he said that while PSP is very open-minded, there are a number of opposition parties, and it's a matter of being aligned on issues.
He explained that it also depends on how things develop during the run-up to the next chapter.
When asked whether there is a possibility of an "opposition alliance" with the Worker's Party, Leong clarified that PSP had yet to start the discussion with any opposition parties.
Tan added to the response by stating that Worker's Party has a much longer history than PSP and that they should respect what the Worker's Party would think.
Top image via Mothership