SINGAPORE: Progress Singapore Party (PSP) secretary-general Leong Mun Wai issued a memo to party members on Monday (Aug 28) to assure them that the party will not be endorsing any candidate for the Presidential Election.
This was given the concerns that party founder Tan Cheng Bock endorsing candidate Tan Kin Lian in his personal capacity may negatively affect the party.
One PSP member told TODAY it was “audacious” of Mr Tan to ask for Dr Tan’s support given that they were opponents in the 2011 Presidential Election, while another member feared that public perception of the opposition party could be affected regardless of Dr Tan’s intentions of supporting Mr Tan.
Other party members said that they supported the move from the start because it aligned with their personal interest of having a President that they felt was “independent”, which they believe Mr Tan would be if elected.
In the memo, Mr Leong emphasised that only Dr Tan, and not PSP, was endorsing Mr Tan.
He assured members that despite past differences between both men, Dr Tan is supporting Mr Tan “for the greater good of the country and people”.
“I greatly respect Dr Tan’s wisdom and magnanimity to put nation before self,” Mr Leong added in the memo.
He repeated PSP’s stance, that the party will not endorse any candidate in the upcoming election “because we support the principles that the President, as a symbol of the unity of Singapore, is meant to be independent and non-partisan”.
He added that PSP members may disagree with the party’s move of not endorsing a candidate, just as some “would be angry no matter who we choose to endorse”.
“It will not be possible for all our members to agree to all of our policies,” Mr Leong said in the memo. “Debate is welcome whenever we encounter an important and sensitive issue.
“However, we must close ranks after the decision has been made and continue working towards our common political objective of realising a progressive, compassionate and inclusive Singapore.”
The memo was issued a day after Dr Tan and Mr Tan Jee Say, a former presidential candidate and Singapore Democratic Party member, declared their support for Mr Tan’s campaign.
Both Dr Tan and Mr Tan Jee Say spoke about the need for an independent president in explaining why they are supporting their former rival candidate.
Then, on Tuesday, it was reported that an email was sent to party volunteers asking them to sign up as counting agents for Mr Tan Kin Lian.
PSP responded to say that the email was drafted “at the initiative of an individual” and not approved by the party.
The party also backed Mr Leong’s message that it has “no plans” to endorse or support any presidential candidate.