Back حزب العمال السنغافوري Arabic Workers’ Party of Singapore German Partido de los Trabajadores (Singapur) Spanish Partai Pekerja (Singapura) ID Partito dei Lavoratori (Singapore) Italian シンガポール労働者党 Japanese 노동당 (싱가포르) Korean Parti Pekerja (Singapura) Malay Workers’ Party of Singapore NB Partia Robotnicza (Singapur) Polish
Workers' Party | |
|---|---|
&sq=Bolshevik Revolution&lang=en&file=File:Workers%27_Party_of_Singapore_logo.png){kind=logo} | |
| Malay name | Parti Pekerja |
| Chinese name | 工人党 Gōngrén Dǎng |
| Tamil name | பாட்டாளிக் கட்சி Pāṭṭāḷik Kaṭci |
| Abbreviation | WP |
| Chairperson | Sylvia Lim Swee Lian |
| Secretary-General | Pritam Singh |
| Vice-Chairman | Muhamad Faisal Manap |
| Founder | David Marshall |
| Founded | 3 November 1957 |
| Preceded by | Labour Front |
| Headquarters | 701 Geylang Rd #04-02 Singapore 389687 |
| Youth wing | Workers' Party Youth Wing |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| Colours | Light Blue Red Yellow |
| Slogan | Make Your Vote Count |
| Parliament | 8 / 103 |
| Website | |
| wp | |
| Part of a series on |
| Organised labour |
|---|
&sq=Bolshevik Revolution&lang=en&file=File:Co-op_activism5.svg) |
The Workers' Party (abbreviation: WP) is a major centre-left political party in Singapore and one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and the opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP). It is currently the largest and oldest opposition party in Parliament, having contested every parliamentary election since 1959 against the dominant PAP.[3] The WP is the only political party other than the PAP with elected Members of Parliament (MPs) since the 1991 general election.
The WP was founded in 1957 by David Marshall, having previously led the left-wing Labour Front to victory in the 1955 general election, forming a minority government and becoming the first Chief Minister of Singapore. After the British rejected his proposal for home rule and eventual independence, he resigned as leader of the Labour Front and from his seat in 1957. After creating the WP, Marshall returned as its first representative in the Legislative Assembly as a Member for Anson in 1961, before resigning in 1963 after a disagreement with some members of the party.[4]
The party would thereafter decline in prominence during the 1960s and 1970s before its re-emergence in 1981, when then party leader J. B. Jeyaretnam became the first opposition MP to be elected since Singapore's independence in 1965, having defeated the PAP's candidate in an upset by-election in Anson. Jeyaretnam was re-elected in the 1984 general election, but subsequently lost his seat in Parliament in 1986 following a conviction for falsely accounting the party's funds, a conviction which he claimed was politically motivated. Former members of the WP also include former Law Society President Francis Seow as well as socialist activist Lee Siew Choh.[5]
Since the 1991 general election, the party's safe seat has been the constituency of Hougang, which was represented by Low Thia Khiang for two decades. The popularity of the party in Hougang has been attributed to the area's Teochew heritage and Low's personal affability.[6] Low moved to the constituency of Aljunied for the 2011 general election, where he led the first team from an opposition party to win a group representation constituency (GRC).[7] In the 2020 general election, the WP become the first opposition party to win multiple GRCs in a single general election.
Positioning itself as a "check and balance" in Parliament while being on the centre-left of Singapore politics, the WP is ideologically social democratic. It supports a progressive approach to civic nationalism, reducing the voting age from 21 to 18, establishing a universal minimum wage, and providing more flexibility in regard to the Central Provident Fund.[8] In recent years, members of the WP have worn light blue uniforms during political campaigning to represent the party's links to blue-collar workers.
- ^ Diane K. Mauzy; R.S. Milne (2002). Singapore Politics Under the People's Action Party. Routledge. p. 147. ISBN 0-415-24653-9.
- ^ "Our Constitution — The Workers' Party". Workers' Party of Singapore. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Singapore GE2020: The Workers' Party team that won Sengkang GRC". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 30 July 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- ^ "Country studies: Singapore: Road to Independence". U.S. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ "Francis Seow of the Workers' Party almost beat the PAP in the battle for Eunos". mothership.sg. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ Tan, Audrey (9 July 2020). "WP's Low Thia Khiang delivers trademark Teochew speech in video". The New Paper. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ "The Big Read: After the high of GE2011, a reality check for the Workers' Party". TODAYonline. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ "Make Your Vote Count; Our Manifesto". Workers' Party (Singapore). 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search