Two months after announcing his intention to form a political party, former presidential candidate Dr Tan Cheng Bock has received in-principle approval from the Registry of Societies for the registration of his new party.

In a Facebook post on Saturday evening (16 March), Dr Tan revealed that the Progress Singapore Party’s application to the Registry has been “approved-in-principle”, subject to “accepting some amendments made by the Registry of Societies to our Constitution.”

The 78-year-old added, “We have proposed some minor changes to the ROS’s amendments and are now waiting for their final reply.” He noted that the Registry of Societies has been “very helpful” thus far.

In January, the former Ayer Rajah Member of Parliament announced that he was forming the new party with 11 others, including some former People’s Action Party (PAP) cadres.

“I felt a sense of duty to come forward and represent (Singaporeans) in Parliament. So I decided to form a political party to add another voice in Parliament,” said the former PAP MP of 26 years.

In recent months, Dr Tan has been spotted having breakfast with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s younger brother Hsien Yang, fuelling talk of a possible political alliance.

Last July, he attended a media conference where seven opposition parties, excluding the Workers’ Party and Singapore People’s Party, came together to discuss the possible formation of an opposition coalition.

Dr Tan, who ran in the 2011 Presidential Election, lost to Tony Tan by just 7,382 votes. His attempt to run for president again in 2017 was thwarted when authorities reserved the election for Malay candidates.

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