SINGAPORE, Dec 21 — Singapore’s political landscape has grown slightly more crowded, with the Most Valuable Party (MVP) formally registered eight months after its application was filed, lifting the total number of political parties in the republic to 21.

A notice in Singapore’s Government Gazette on December 18 confirmed the party’s registration with the Registry of Societies, a move first reported by The Straits Times.

MVP was founded by restaurant owner Chia Yun Kai, 32, who entered the political fray earlier this year ahead of the May general election. 

Chia told the Singapore daily he had submitted the application in April and welcomed the approval, saying official status gave the party legitimacy. 

“The intention all along was to create something official... and now that things are, we welcome more people to join us,” he said.

Although he had initially said he would contest East Coast GRC under his own banner, Chia eventually ran in Pasir Ris-Changi GRC under the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), which secured 32.34 per cent of the vote against the People’s Action Party. 

He was then a member of the Singapore Justice Party, one of the SDA’s components.

MVP’s registered address is a unit at Icon Village in Tanjong Pagar, which also houses Chia’s mala restaurant.

The Registry of Societies says applications typically take two months or more to process. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed it received MVP’s application on April 11, just days before the Writ of Election was issued on April 15 and Nomination Day on April 23.

Asked about the timeline, the ministry said each application is carefully assessed to ensure proper governance, lawful purposes and that it does not undermine Singapore’s national security or interests.

According to The Straits Times, Chia declined to reveal how many members MVP has, or who they are, but said the party would likely contest future elections on its own and “put up a good fight wherever we’ll be at”.

He has since resigned from the Singapore Justice Party, SDA chief Desmond Lim said, adding that the move followed the May 4 election so Chia could “pursue his political ambitions”. Lim offered his “congratulations and best wishes”.

Recent years have seen several new parties enter Singapore politics, including the Progress Singapore Party, Red Dot United and the Singapore United Party. All contested the latest election but failed to win seats.