| Undoubtedly the most prominent political party in Singapore history, it began as a union of two left-wing congregations. Both groups fought for the country's independence but in different ways, with one headed by Lee Kuan Yew and the other by Lim Chin Siong. The former eventually altercated with the latter, branded them as communist sympathisers and purged them from the party, who went on to establish Barisan. Since winning the 1959 General Election to form the government, PAP has dominated Singapore's political arena for decades and remains the ruling party today, albeit shifting from being a socialist to a "big tent" party. Lee was Singapore's first Prime Minister for 32 years and PAP secretary-general for nearly 40 years, except for a short period in 1957 when renowned lawyer T. T. Rajah occupied the post after Lim's faction nearly took control of the party. A year after Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963, PAP made a bristling but futile venture into mainland politics. After separation in 1965, the nascent movement PAP left behind in the Peninsular re-organised itself into Democratic Action Party. On 28 November 1990, Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee as Singapore's second PM and on 3 December 1992, took over as third PAP secretary-general. Goh handed the reins to Lee's eldest son Lee Hsien Loong on 12 August 2004, who also assumed PAP's key post on 3 December 2004. After the 2020 polls, the younger Lee passed on the premiership to Lawrence Wong, who led the fourth generation ministers. To date, half of Singapore's Presidents were PAP Members of Parliament, namely C. V. Devan Nair, one of four appointed Presidents, as well as Ong Teng Cheong, Tony Tan and Halimah Yacob, who make up three out of the four elected Presidents. Ong and Tan were former PAP chairmen and Deputy PMs. The party's publication is "Petir", which is the Malay translation of the word "lightning". |
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