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 Kanagaratnam Pillai 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 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. 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.Suthakar, K. (20 November 2006)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. * 1974: PPP contested under Barisan Nasional symbol and won 1 parliamentary and 2 state seats in the 1974 general election. * 1975: Party president S. P. Seenivasagam died and Mr. Khong Kok Yet became president. * 1978: S. I. Rajah was elected president. * 1982: Paramjit Singh was elected president. * 1985: Tee Ah Chuan took over the party presidency after Paramjit Singh stepped down. * 1986: Paramjit Singh became president again following the resignation of Tee Ah Chuan. * 1988: Mak Hon Kam became president after a private deal with Paramjit Singh. Following a court injunction against Mak Hon Kam, S. I. Rajah became Acting President. The court subsequently decided that the Registrar of Societies should determine a legitimate leader. * 1993: M. Kayveas became president following S. I. Rajah's retirement from active politics. * 1994: The Registrar of Societies decided and recognised M. Kayveas as the lawful president. * 1995 ** 19 March: An Extraordinary Delegates Conference was held and the following were unanimously adopted: *** The party Logo, which is a six pointed red star, be changed to a six pointed blue star with the letters PPP in the center of the star. *** The national president is the only spokesman for the party. *** Branch membership to be reduced to 27 from the current number of 50. *** To update the Registry of members and Membership Cards be issued and ensure active membership participation. ** 26 March: M. Kayveas attended the First Barisan Nasional Convention and signed the Barisan Nasional Charter as the National President of PPP. ** 12 April: Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chairman launched the new logo of PPP. ** 25 April: PPP actively participated in the General Election extending their fullest support to all Barisan Nasional candidates. ** 5 June: The Registrar of Societies was sued for having made a decision in favour of M. Kayveas. ** 5 October: The court accepted M. Kayveas and his CEC to intervene in the suit. ** 21 October: The Registrar of Societies confirmed that until further notice of its decision, M. Kayveas and his CEC should remain the only legal office bearers of the party. * 1999 ** 18 September: An attempt was made by a group of expelled members to challenge the leadership of PPP via a ruling from the Seremban High Court. It was subsequently nullified on 14 October 1999 by the Court of Appeal which decided in favour of M. Kayveas' leadership of the PPP. * 2000 ** 6 December: As promised by the then Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, M. Kayveas was appointed Senator in the Dewan Negara. * 2001 ** 30 January: Appointment of the party President as a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. ** 27 May: A land was donated to PPP by Hua Yang Development Sdn Bhd for the purpose of setting up an Institution of Higher Learning. The signing ceremony was held in the Ipoh City and Country Club. *2005 ** 24 September: Kayveas retained his position unopposed after only one nomination was submitted for the president's post. *2008 ** March: Kayveas lost his federal seat. PPP's future was widely questioned. *2009 ** 4 April: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim announced that People's Progressive Party (PPP) vice-president V. Nagarajan along with 11 of the party's divisions would be defecting to People's Justice Party.Anwar announces defection from PPP (4 April 2009)Representatives
Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly)
List of party presidents
General election results
State election results
Elected representatives
Notes and references
Other references
* Pillai, M.G.G. (3 November 2005)External links