Tan Cheng Bock and Hazel Poa resign from PSP leadership

Progress Singapore Party founder and chairman Tan Cheng Bock and vice-chair Hazel Poa have stepped down from its leadership body.

Party treasurer S. Nallakaruppan has also stepped down from the Central Executive Committee (CEC), the party announced in a press release on July 5.

Dr Tan will be replaced as chairman by Mr A’bas Kasmani, who was previously second vice-chair. Mr Anthony Neo will replace Mr Nallakaruppan as treasurer.

Dr Tan, Ms Poa and Mr Nallakaruppan – who were unsuccessful candidates at the May general election – will remain members of the party, the PSP said.

The CEC also co-opted three new members, all of whom also stood under the party banner in GE2025: Mr Sani Ismail, Mr Lawrence Pek and Ms Stephanie Tan.

Mr Sani, a lawyer, was on the team contesting West Coast-Jurong West GRC, while Mr Pek, a former secretary-general of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, contested Chua Chu Kang GRC. Ms Tan, a homemaker and former lawyer, ran in Pioneer – a single-seat constituency. All three lost their races to candidates from the ruling People’s Action Party.

The changes follow Dr Tan’s announcement after the May 3 election that he would retire from electoral politics.

Dr Tan, a former presidential candidate and PAP MP, founded the party in 2019 and is largely seen as its face.

He, alongside Ms Poa and secretary-general Leong Mun Wai, as well as Mr Sani and Mr Sumarleki Amjah, ran as part of PSP’s A-team in West Coast-Jurong West GRC. They lost to a team led by Education Minister Desmond Lee.

The GRC, which was redrawn from the old West Coast GRC, contains Dr Tan’s old ward Ayer Rajah SMC and produced the closest fight in the 2020 General Election.

This result sent Ms Poa and Mr Leong into Parliament as NCMPs.

In GE2025, the party’s overall performance dropped significantly compared with its debut in the 2020 election.

This is the second set of leadership changes the party has made this year. In March 2025, a CEC election put in place the team that led the party into the general election.

Mr Leong was re-elected as party chief, taking over the role from Ms Poa.

Ms Poa had assumed leadership after Mr Leong stepped down in February 2024 to take responsibility for a correction direction he received under Singapore’s fake news law for a social media post.

According to the source: The Straits Times.