Opposition parties that drew a blank in GE2025 find new ways to reach out

PSP and RDU move online with newsletter, platform respectively; SDP unveils road map

- Samuel Devaraj and Ng Wei Kai

Opposition parties that came away empty-handed at the 2025 General Election have established new channels as they seek to capture a share of national attention that has now turned to Parliament.

These initiatives add to tried-and-tested tactics, like house visits, and kick-start the parties' five-year journeys to the next contest after an election where almost all opposition parties lost vote share.

Several parties launched initiatives ahead of the opening of the House on Sept 5.

The Progress Singapore Party, which received 36.3 per cent of the vote in the areas it contested, the highest among the unelected, moved its party paper The Palm onto online newsletter platform Substack on Aug 25.

Published fortnightly, the newsletter offers PSP's view and alternative solutions on the big policy and political issues of the day.

Party chief Leong Mun Wai told The Straits Times that PSP is the first opposition party to start a digital newsletter.

"We will continue to contribute to the political discourse in Singapore by regularly responding to current events and providing constructive ideas on how to take Singapore forward," he said.

The party is out of the 15th Parliament after being represented by Non-Constituency MPs Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa in the 14th. The opposition contingent in Parliament now comprises 12 Workers' Party MPs.

Meanwhile, Red Dot United, which fielded the second-highest number of opposition candidates at the contest behind WP, launched AltGovSG.Online, a platform dedicated to "shadowing the government" and presenting policy alternatives, with secretary-general Ravi Philemon appointed "shadow minister" for social policies.

In other parliamentary democracies, shadow Cabinets are formed by elected opposition MPs to hold the ruling government to account and provide alternative policies.