The Workers' Party (Singapore)
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Workers' Party
Parti Pekerja ڤرتي ڤكرجا 工人党 Gōngrén Dǎng பாட்டாளிக் கட்சி Pāṭṭāḷik Kaṭci |
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| Chairperson | Sylvia Lim |
| Secretary-General | Pritam Singh |
| Founded | 3 November 1957 |
| Headquarters | Teambuild Centre 701 Geylang Rd Singapore 389687 1°18′53″N 103°53′22″E / 1.3147°N 103.8894°ECoordinates: 1°18′53″N 103°53′22″E / 1.3147°N 103.8894°E |
| Youth wing | Workers' Party Youth Wing |
| Ideology |
Social democracy Liberal democracy Parliamentary democracy Democratic socialism Progressivism |
| Political position | Centre-left to Left-wing |
| Colours | Light blue |
| Parliament |
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| Website | |
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The Workers' Party (abbreviation: WP; simplified Chinese: 工人党; traditional Chinese: 工人黨; Malay: Parti Pekerja; Tamil: பாட்டாளிக் கட்சி), is a centre-left opposition political party in Singapore. The party currently has nine elected seats in Parliament, with the party's Secretary-General Pritam Singh, Chairman Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Low Thia Khiang serving as Members of Parliament (MPs) for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC), Png Eng Huat as the MP for the single-member constituency of Hougang. Since 2011, the Workers' Party has been the only opposition party in Singapore to have elected MPs in Parliament.
The Workers' Party was founded on 3 November 1957 by Singapore's former Chief Minister, David Marshall.
In 1981, the party's then-leader J. B. Jeyaretnam became the first opposition MP to be elected to Parliament since Singapore's independence in 1965, when he defeated the candidate of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) at a by-election in the constituency of Anson. He was re-elected at 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 Jeyaretnam has always maintained was politically motivated. Since the 1991 general election, the party has held the seat of Hougang. Low Thia Khiang was elected as MP for Hougang in 1991 and re-elected at the 1997, 2001 and 2006 general elections. Low moved to Aljunied GRC for the 2011 general election where he led the first team from an opposition party to win a GRC, while Yaw Shin Leong held the Hougang seat for the party. Yaw was expelled from the party in February 2012, which triggered a by-election in Hougang. The seat was retained by the Workers' Party's candidate, Png Eng Huat. On 12 December 2012, Speaker of Parliament and incumbent PAP MP for Punggol East, Michael Palmer, resigned from his seat. After the Prime Minister issued the writ of election for the Punggol East by-election, the Workers' Party announced on 14 January 2013 that Lee Li Lian, who stood in Punggol East in the 2011 general election, had been chosen to represent the party. On 26 January 2013, Lee Li Lian made history as the first woman to win a by-election. However, she narrowly lost her seat in the 2015 general election amid the massive swing towards the PAP.
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