The opposition Progress Singapore Party on April 6 said it will field fewer candidates this general election, and confirmed that it will contest West Coast-Jurong West and Chua Chu Kang GRCs.
Party chief Leong Mun Wai did not provide details on how many candidates the party will put forward in the 2025 General Election.
The party fielded 24 candidates in GE2020, the biggest opposition slate then.
Mr Leong, who is also a Non-Constituency MP, added that PSP is still working out its plans to contest other constituencies.
Asked the reason for reducing the PSP slate, Mr Leong said that contesting a general election is a "very complicated affair", citing problems like having dedicated manpower to canvass the ground.
"Our conclusion from the last election is that we need to focus a bit more," he added.
He made the announcement at the launch event for PSP's manifesto, which focuses on bread-and-butter issues such as cost of living and jobs.
The press conference was fronted by Mr Leong, the party's first vice-chairperson Hazel Poa and party chairman Tan Cheng Bock.
Tariffs 'overblown'
During the press conference, the trio also fielded questions on the party's stance on external issues, including the tariffs recently introduced by the US on the rest of the world.
Announced by US President Donald Trump on April 2, they have caused widespread economic uncertainty.
On April 5, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Mr Trump's recent tariffs might lead to a global trade war if other countries retaliate, and warned Singaporeans to brace themselves for more shocks ahead.
Mr Leong said Singapore's response to the tariffs so far has been "overblown", although he acknowledged that the US might impose other policy changes in the future.
Dr Tan added that he thinks the Government's stance on the tariffs has been "partly to instil fear in the voter".
He said: "So the voter will be so frightened - oh, this thing is going to happen, you have to be serious, you'd better vote for the incumbent."
Ms Poa said these global events are recent and still evolving, and should be monitored closely before the party changes any proposals in its manifesto.
She said: "But I think... with this evolving trade environment and reduced visibility of what's ahead of us, what is clear is that actually we need more perspectives, not less. We need more ideas, not less."
Mr Leong added that Singaporeans have dealt with global uncertainty and economic headwinds before.
He said: "In the 1970s with worldwide inflation, speculation, those are even bigger events than what we are seeing today, even with tariffs.
"Can you compare to the oil crisis of the 70s? No, we overcame it because the government at the time knew how to deal with it."
Ms Poa added that the party made the conscious decision to exercise "greater restraint" in areas of foreign and defence policy as they are external-facing.
She said: "I think that in such situations, we want to be united and not compromise the Government's ability to protect Singapore's interests."
Cost of living 'most urgent issue'
PSP's manifesto sets out over 60 policy ideas centred on several themes: the cost of living, housing, jobs and wages, social safety nets, education and governance.
Mr Leong said: "Most of the policies have already been proposed in Parliament. Among the new policies, many are aimed at strengthening protections for workers to secure livelihoods and improve work-life balance for workers."
Mr Leong and Ms Poa, who is also an NCMP, have raised some of these issues in Parliament, including the need to reduce statutory working hours to 40 hours a week, down from the current 44 hours, and increasing annual leave entitlement from seven to 14 days.
New policies proposed in the manifesto include expanding non-academic pathways to university admission, mandating environmental impact assessments before major development works, and having MPs declare their public assets.
Ultimately, the most pressing issue the manifesto wants to address is cost of living, Ms Poa said.
Mr Leong added that the party had collected feedback from the public in formulating these policy suggestions.
He also hoped the manifesto would demonstrate to the public that the party is capable of offering constructive alternative solutions to enable every Singaporean to benefit from the country's progress.
"We will work hard to earn the trust of Singaporeans at the ballot box, so that we can champion these ideas in the next Parliament," he said.
The manifesto's executive summary outlined four areas that the party stands for: building a fair society, living with dignity, more pathways to success in education, and strengthening democracy and political institutions.
It then detailed the proposals, arranged by theme.
On cost of living, the manifesto said that there has been a "major escalation in the cost of living" in Singapore since the last general election in 2020.
The increase in goods and services tax (GST) from 7 per cent to 9 per cent, as well as rising prices of housing and transport, added to the burden of Singaporeans, it said.
But wages have "barely kept pace", it added.
To combat this, the party proposes lowering the GST back to 7 per cent and exempting basic essential goods from the tax.
The manifesto also tackles housing policy, proposing that Singaporeans aged 28 and above be allowed to purchase two- and three-room Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, and resale flats of all types, in all estates.
Currently, singles can only purchase resale flats and two-room flexi BTO flats from the age of 35.
It also made other recommendations that it said would make housing more affordable, including a reiteration of its Affordable Homes Scheme previously presented as a motion in Parliament in 2023.
This entails exempting Singaporeans from the cost of the land their flats are built on, unless they later sell the units.
On jobs and wages, the manifesto proposes a minimum living wage of $2,250 per month for all resident Singaporean workers.
On social policies, PSP proposes that more support be given for mental health services, among other things.
The party also proposes a series of policies aimed at the education system, including introducing a 10-year through-train programme where taking the PSLE is optional, as well as reduced class sizes.
On governance, the party proposes cutting ministerial salaries, and a review of the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, Singapore's fake news law.
When asked how the party intends to fund its social policies, Ms Poa said the programmes, when considered together, are revenue-neutral.
She said: "Our proposals can be funded from changes in how we treat land costs for public housing."
She added that reducing GST, along with its other social programmes, would cost about $7 billion to $9 billion, which would be paid with savings from paying land costs under the party's scheme for affordable housing, and its recommendation to set a levy on employment passes.
This is the party's second manifesto following its maiden electoral outing in GE2020.
Its 2020 manifesto, which spanned 13 pages, broadly outlined the party's ideas for Singapore's economic, social and political development, and was largely focused on helping the Republic emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. Its campaign slogan then was "You deserve better".
It also focused on the cost of living as the top issue for voters, and criticised the Government's response to the pandemic's economic fallout.
The latest manifesto, which has 78 pages, represents the "voices of the people", said Mr Leong, adding that it is a work in progress.
"Compared with the 2020 manifesto, we have further enhanced our interaction with residents and we have gathered more feedback from them," he added.
