Singapore’s political parties and platforms ahead of May 3 election

Singapore’s parliamentary election, set for May 3, will see 11 political parties competing for the 2.76 million registered voters in the city-state, with a population of 6 million. Here are the key parties and their platforms:

People's Action Party (PAP)

Leader: Lawrence Wong, 52, Singapore's fourth Prime Minister.

Platform: The PAP has been in power since Singapore's independence in 1965 and is known for its clean governance, economic stability, and effective management of the country’s rapid growth.

• Financial support for people who lose jobs (up to S$6,000 over 6 months).
• Vouchers, cash payouts, and utilities rebates for households to manage living costs.
• Plans to add 13,600 beds to the healthcare system in the next five years.
• Construction of over 50,000 new public housing flats in three years to ease the supply crunch.
   

Workers' Party

Leader: Pritam Singh, 49, lawyer.

Platform: The largest opposition party, advocating for a more balanced political system and aiming for long-term control of one-third of the legislature.

• Exempt essential goods from consumption tax.
• Raise contributions from reserves for fiscal policy from 50% to 60%.
• Implement redundancy insurance, providing 40% of a citizen's last drawn salary.
• Introduce 70-year public housing leases as an alternative to the current 99-year leasehold.
   

Progress Singapore Party

Leader: Tan Cheng Bock, former PAP lawmaker.

Platform: Focuses on reducing governance erosion and enhancing citizens' welfare.

• Reduce consumption tax from 9% to 7%, and exempt essential goods.
• Allow citizens to buy public housing without including land costs until resale.
• Centralize government procurement and distribution of drugs and cover basic health insurance premiums.
• Implement a minimum living wage of S$2,250 ($1,721) per month for all resident Singaporean workers.
   

Singapore Democratic Party

Leader: Chee Soon Juan, 62, social liberal advocate.

Platform: Emphasizes human rights and social liberal policies.

• Reduce consumption tax and exempt essential goods.
• Introduce non-open market public housing that excludes the cost of land, only resellable back to the government.
• Propose a single-payer universal national health insurance system, with the government managing a central healthcare fund.
   

The election will provide voters with a range of platforms focused on economic stability, social welfare, and governance reform.

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Singapore political parties May 3 election