Editing People's Action Party (section)

====Great Split of 1961====
{{see also|1961 Singaporean by-elections}}
In 1961, disagreements on the proposed merger plan to form [[Malaysia]] and long-standing internal party power struggle led to the split of the left-wing group from the PAP.<ref>{{cite news|title=When Lee lost control of PAP for 10 days|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=12 September 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610727-1.2.3|title=PAP 'rebels' to form an opposition party|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818013843/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610727-1.2.3|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610710-1.2.4|title=Merger issue: Dr. Toh hits out at six top unionists|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818012549/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610710-1.2.4|url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the "communist" faction had been frozen out of ever taking over the PAP, other problems had begun to arise internally. [[Ong Eng Guan]], the former Mayor of the City Council after PAP's victory in the [[1957 Singapore City Council election]], presented a set of "16 Resolutions" to revisit some issues previously explored by Chin Siong's faction of the PAP: abolishing the PPSO, revising the Constitution, and changing the method of selecting cadre members.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy|url=https://archive.org/details/economicoriginsd00acem|url-access=limited|last1=Acemoglu|first1=Daron|last2=Robinson|first2=James A.|publisher=Cambridge Press|year=2005|pages=[https://archive.org/details/economicoriginsd00acem/page/n24 8]–10|isbn=9780521855266}}</ref>{{rp|82}}

Although Ong's 16 Resolutions originated from the left-wing faction led by Lim Chin Siong, that faction had only reluctantly asked the PAP leadership to clarify its position on them,<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Thum|first=Ping Tjin|date=Nov 2013|title='The Fundamental Issue is Anti-colonialism, Not Merger': Singapore's "Progressive Left", Operation Coldstore, and the Creation of Malaysia|journal=ARI Working Paper|issue=211}}</ref> as they still thought that the party with Lee Kuan Yew at the helm was a better alternative than Ong who was regarded as mercurial and a tyrant.<ref name=":1" /> However, Lee took the stance taken by the left-wing PAP members as a lack of confidence in his leadership. This issue caused a rift between the "moderate" PAP members (led by Lee) and the "left-wing" faction (led by Lim).

Ong was then expelled, and he resigned his Assembly seat to challenge the government to a by-election in Hong Lim in April 1961, where he won 73.3% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sg-elections.com/by-election/1961-4/hong-lim.html|title=Singapore Legislative Assembly By-Election April 1961 > Hong Lim|website=singapore-elections.com|access-date=19 August 2016|archive-date=1 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601144636/http://singapore-elections.com/by-election/1961-4/hong-lim.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This was despite the fact that Lee Kuan Yew had made a secret alliance with [[Fong Chong Pik]], the leader of the [[Communist Party of Malaya]] (CPM), to get the CPM cadres to support the PAP in the by-election.<ref name=":6" />