People's Progressive Party

History

PPP was formed in 1953 as the Perak Progressive Party by the Seenivasagam brothers mainly as an opposition party to the Alliance; the party's first president was S. Kanapathipillai with the Seenivasagam brothers as senior office bearers. It was a 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 (which would later become the Barisan Nasional), but withdrew in 1955 over disagreement with the Alliance on allocation of seats, to become an opposition party again. In 1956, it changed its name to the People's Progressive Party. 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 1974, PPP became one of the founding members of the Barisan Nasional, succeeding the Alliance, which it had rejoined in 1972. It was brought into the alliance 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. Many PPP stalwarts transferred their allegiance to the DAP during that time.

Following the loss of its final parliamentary seat in 1978, the party descended into factionalism and was on the verge of disbanding.

However PPP enjoyed a renaissance of sorts under the leadership of M. Kayveas.

He rebranded the party and claimed to have boosted its membership to 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 was Indian, 32% Chinese, 13% Malay, and the rest were 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, but ultimately nothing came out of it.

The 2008 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 elections, the party under President M. Kayveas announced PPP'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 PPP led by Maglin Dennis D'Cruz and M. Kayveas respectively. The party was subsequently de-registered by the Registrar of Soceities (ROS) as a result.

The party was re-registered in 2023 following a successful appeal and Maglin's election as president by the party's supreme council was recognised by the Home Ministry.

Maglin however died on November the same year, and Loga Bala Mohan became acting president Loga Bala was subsequently confirmed as the president of the party when he won the post uncontested in the party's annual general assembly on 1 September 2024.

Chronology

1953: PPP was formed under the name 'Perak Progressive Party' to participate in the political future of the impending independence of Malaya.

1954: PPP became a component of the Alliance. It won a seat in the Ipoh Town Council.

1955: PPP withdrew from the Alliance before the 1955 Federal Legislative Council Elections due to non-allocation of seats for PPP.

1956: To reflect a national image, the party's name was changed to People's Progressive Party.

1957: Party president, D. R. Seenivasagam won the by-election for the Ipoh Parliamentary seat and became PPP's first Member of Parliament.

1959: PPP won 4 parliamentary and 8 state assembly seats in the 1959 general election.

1960: PPP won 1 more Parliamentary seat making it 5 MPs in parliament. PPP consolidated its position in Ipoh and turned Ipoh Municipality into an exemplary model of local administration.

1964: PPP won 2 parliamentary and 6 state seats in the 1964 general election.

1969: Party president and prime mover, D. R. Seenivasagam, died, and the leadership of the party was taken over by co-founder S. P. Seenivasagam. Despite the change of leadership, PPP went on to win 4 parliamentary seats and 12 state assembly seats in the 1969 General Election. The opportunity to form the Perak State Government slipped away due to a shortage of 2 seats.

1972: PPP charted a new milestone by making a decision to join the Barisan Nasional. The decision was based on the belief that for the country to achieve political, social and economic stability, parochial and narrow party interests must be given up for a national multi racial outlook.

Government positions

State governments

Perak (1972–1982, 1986–1990, 2010–2013)

Note: bold as Menteri Besar/Chief Minister, italic as junior partner

Elected representatives

List of MPs

1959

P27 Ipoh D.R. Seenivasagam

P28 Menglembu S.P. Seenivasagam

P30 Ulu Kinta Chan Swee Ho

P31 Batu Gajah Khong Kok Yat

1964

P50 Ipoh D.R. Seenivasagam

P51 Menglembu S.P. Seenivasagam

1969

P48 Bruas Su Liang Yu

P50 Ipoh R. C. Mahadeva Rayan

P51 Menglembu S.P. Seenivasagam

P30 Ulu Kinta Chan Yoon Om

1974

P56 Bruas Su Liang Yu

2004

P60 Taiping M Kayveas

List of state assemblymen

1959

N21 Sungei Raia Chin Foon

N22 Chemor Teoh Kim Swee

N23 Pekan Lama Toh Seang Eng

N24 Pekan Bharu D. R. Seenivasagam

N25 Pasir Puteh Mohamed Fajar Ali Hassan

N26 Kuala Pari S. P. Seenivasagam

Notes and references

Other references

Pillai, M.G.G. (3 November 2005). "National Front parties were not formed to fight for Malaysian independence". Malaysia Today.