'Things can go wrong without Mr Lee'

The People's Power Party (PPP) is a newcomer for the General Election, but the man behind its inception is no stranger to politics in Singapore.

Founder and secretary-general Goh Meng Seng has 15 years of political experience and contested in the last two general elections under two different parties.

On Sept 11, Mr Goh will lead a PPP team to contest Choa Chu Kang GRC. His rival will be Health Minister Gan Kim Yong's People's Action Party (PAP) team.

Yesterday, Mr Goh, 45, the managing director of a group of market research and linguistics companies, told The New Paper in a phone interview that he does not see the switching of parties as a weakness.

"I've learnt a lot during my time in Workers' Party (WP), which I joined in 2001, and helped contribute in the rebranding for the 2006 GE," he said.

Mr Goh was a member of the WP's Central Executive Council and the party's "A" Team, which stood and lost in Aljunied GRC in 2006, with 43.9 per cent of votes.

Saying "my job was done", he left the party later that year and joined the National Solidarity Party (NSP) in 2007. He said he used his knowledge to build NSP up for the 2011 GE.

"We helped increase the profile of NSP after four years. But I felt that we needed more opposition to give rise to more political discourse," he said.

In July this year, the PPP was officially registered, with Mr Goh as its secretary-general.

Mr Goh said the death of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew this year was another reason behind the setting up of the new party.

"The current system, where there is a strong concentration of power, is only viable when you have a strong philosopher behind it.

"Now that Mr Lee is gone, there's no one else who has such a strong political morality who can control everyone. Things can go wrong.

"The only way to provide sustainability is when power is separated into different parties that can act as checks and balances," he said.

The current system, where there is a strong concentration of power, is only viable when you have a strong philosopher behind it.

This article was first published on September 7, 2015.
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