The word “cadre” sprung up in the news during the trial of Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh. But what exactly is a cadre and how much influence do they have in a political party?
The People's Action Party's 37th central executive committee at the party's conference on Nov 6, 2022. SINGAPORE: During the ongoing trial of Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh for allegedly lying before a Committee of Privileges, a
In a political context, cadres are people trained, typically in socialist states, to carry out the goals of the party-state and to spread and enforce the official ideology. “It is a tiered membership system that prevents hostile takeovers,” said Associate Professor Daniel Goh, associate provost for undergraduate education at the National University of Singapore and a former Non-Constituency MP from the WP.
Cadres are also expected to act in accordance with instructions from the party leadership, and “be less fickle than ordinary members”, said Asst Prof Ong. Similarly, the WP’s constitution lets its CEC appoint cadres, emphasising that the member must be deemed “a fit and proper person”. Workers' Party has around 100 cadres, according to former members. Assoc Prof Goh estimated that about a third of the party members are cadres.
For PAP, there seem to be “no fixed rules” to qualify for cadreship, “but what the party looks out for is consistency and effort”, said a cadre.
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