People's Progressive Party (Malaysia)


The People's Progressive Party is a de-registered multiracial political party in Malaysia which was one of the component members of the National Front or Barisan Nasional coalition from 1973 to 2018. After losing the 2018 election, the party has been split into two factions - one led by Maglin Dennis D'Cruz who supported myPPP remaining part of the BN coalition and the other led by party president M. Kayveas who insisted on myPPP leaving the BN coalition. The latter emerged victorious in the immediate power struggle and myPPP subsequently exited the Barisan Nasional coalition. The Registrar of Societies has deregistered MyPPP, which is facing leadership problems, effective Jan 14, 2019.

History

PPP was formed in 1953 by the Seenivasagam brothers mainly as an opposition party to the Alliance; the party's first president was Kanagaratnam Pillai with the Seenivasagam brothers as office bearers. It was hugely popular party upon inception, particularly due to the popularity of the brothers who spoke up for justice, equality and the common man.
For a short period in 1954, PPP joined the ruling Alliance with UMNO, MIC, and MCA, but withdrew in 1955 over disagreement with the Alliance on allocation of seats, to become an opposition party again. In 1969, as a strong opposition party, PPP was nearly able to form the Perak State Government, but fell short of just 2 seats in combination with the opposition to form the state assembly when 2 of its members crossed over. The success of PPP was mainly due to the Chinese vote, though many of the top leaders then were Indians.
In 1973, PPP became one of the founding members of the National Front. It was brought into the National Front to keep the Indian and Chinese vote, especially after the 1969 racial riots.
However, joining the coalition would prove its undoing as it lost nearly all its seats when it contested under the Barisan Nasional ticket in the 1974 General Elections. This was mainly due to Chinese anti-establishment feeling that was prevailing at that time.
Today, under the leadership of M. Kayveas, the PPP has a membership of more than 500,000 with a network of over 3000 branches throughout the country. All registered members carry a membership card signed by the President; the President's card is signed by the Secretary General. As of 2006, 48% of the PPP's membership is Indian, 32% are Chinese, 13% are Malay, and the rest are of other ethnicities.
In November 2006, party president, M. Kayveas, proposed a merger between the PPP and another Barisan Nasional party, the Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia. Koh Tsu Koon, Gerakan's Deputy President, welcomed the suggestion.
The 2008 Malaysian General Elections saw the party being decimated. However the party retained its representation in the Senate and was later allocated a Deputy Minister post occupied by T. Murugiah.
In the aftermath of the 2018 Malaysian General Elections, the party under President M. Kayveas announced myPPP's exit from the Barisan Nasional coalition after its loss of power in the election. There was a subsequent power struggle between the "remain" and "leave" factions of myPPP led by Maglin Dennis D'Cruz and M. Kayveas respectively. The latter emerged victorious in the power struggle and the attempted usurpers were stripped of their party membership and expelled.

Chronology

President of People's Progressive Party

General election results

Elected representatives

Other references