WP names new office-bearers: Jamus Lim is youth wing president, Louis Chua leads media team

SINGAPORE – The Workers’ Party (WP) has named its new office-bearers who will lead the party into the next general election, after party polls in June that saw few changes to its top decision-making body.

In a statement on July 17, the party announced the co-opting of lawyer Fadli Fawzi as one of four deputy organising secretaries. He was fielded as part of the WP team in Marine Parade GRC in the last general election.

Sengkang GRC MP Louis Chua is head of the media team, while his GRC mate Jamus Lim is youth wing president.

The media role was previously held by former Aljunied GRC MP Leon Perera, and the youth wing was previously led by former East Coast GRC candidate Nicole Seah, until their departure from

the party in 2023

after a video emerged of them sharing an intimate moment.

Former Punggol East MP Lee Li Lian is deputy head of the media team, a role previously held by Mr Chua. Ms Lee, currently a town councillor in the Sengkang Town Council, was elected into the party’s central executive committee (CEC) after a hiatus of four years.

The 15-member CEC met on July 16, slightly more than two weeks after it was elected on June 30, approving the appointments that remain mostly the same as those in the previous committee.

Party chief

Pritam Singh was previously re-elected as secretary-general,

while Ms Sylvia Lim was returned to her post as chair.

Other party members who retained their appointments include Aljunied GRC MP Faisal Manap, who is vice-chair, and Sengkang GRC MP He Ting Ru, who keeps her treasurer post.

Former Marine Parade GRC candidate Nathaniel Koh continues as deputy treasurer, Hougang MP Dennis Tan as organising secretary, Aljunied GRC MP Gerald Giam as head of policy research, and Dr Lim as deputy head of policy research.

Former East Coast GRC candidate Kenneth Foo, Mr Ang Boon Yaw and Mr Tan Kong Soon remain as deputy organising secretaries.

Mr Ang is a lawyer who started volunteering with the party in 2012, while Mr Tan was legislative assistant to former party chief Low Thia Khiang. Mr Low was also elected into the CEC on June 30, and continues to serve as a member, said the WP statement. He has no appointments.

Commenting on the CEC office-bearers remaining largely the same, political watcher Mustafa Izzuddin, who is a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, said: “The WP wants to preserve its internal stability in order to execute its external strategy of chipping away at the dominance of the ruling party.”

“The (appointments) also suggest that the party is closing ranks and getting ready for the next election,” he added.

On the appointments of the Sengkang GRC MPs to key positions, he said this demonstrates to voters that the MPs are key members of the party, and shows that the WP is determined to retain the constituency at the coming general election, due by November 2025.

In co-opting Mr Fawzi and entrusting him with leadership responsibilities, the party may have “big political plans” for him, such as fielding him in Sengkang GRC, which needs a minority candidate, Dr Mustafa said. The spot was filled by former MP Raeesah Khan, who resigned from the WP in 2021 after admitting to lying in Parliament.