Chee to stand in Bukit Batok; PAP to name candidate today

SINGAPORE — Earlier indications of a multi-cornered contest in the upcoming by-election in Bukit Batok faded yesterday as opposition parties confirmed their withdrawals, setting the stage for a straight fight between Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan and the People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate to defend the ward.

The ruling party said it would announce its candidate today, whom its second assistant secretary-general Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday said is someone “we are very confident of”, is known by residents and someone “who works very hard and is sincere at heart”. He added that he was not surprised at Dr Chee’s candidacy and welcomed the contest.

The Deputy Prime Minister’s comments came after the SDP showed its hand at a walkabout yesterday morning, declaring Dr Chee as its candidate for the ward where it got 26.4 per cent of the votes in a three-corner fight in last September’s General Election.

Those who had declared their interest to enter the fray — triggered by the resignation of Mr David Ong, over an alleged extramarital relationship with a grassroots volunteer — backed off yesterday, including Democratic Progressive Party chief Benjamin Pwee who said they view Dr Chee as a “very strong candidate with good ground support”.

He added: “We are happy to bow out of this race, and let this be a straight fight between the SDP and the PAP.”

Independent candidate Samir Salim Neji, who received 0.6 per cent of the vote and forfeited his election deposit at the last polls, had said he would not contest if Dr Chee were to stand.

Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam also issued a statement yesterday, saying he had personally called the leaders of the other opposition parties to request that they come together to issue a joint statement of support for Dr Chee.

The Workers’ Party (WP) had said earlier that it would not field anyone in Bukit Batok, noting the SDP has traditionally contested the area.

The National Solidarity Party’s Lim Tean, however, said yesterday the party is studying the situation carefully and will make an announcement in due course.

Political analysts said the by-election in Bukit Batok was always going to be a two-horse race between the PAP and SDP, regardless of the number of candidates.

“No other party so far has gone beyond an expression of interest, meaning they have not gone on walkabouts, they’ve not been asserting themselves that they have a right to contest,” said Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan.

“I think SDP still has a mountain to climb in terms of winning the seat. They will have to effect a signficant vote swing, that is far bigger than, say, in (the) Punggol East (by-election), and again that was WP, and SDP is not in the same league as WP,” he added.

Speaking to the media, Dr Chee said there were internal discussions where other candidates were also considered. He did not elaborate further but added that the party took the last week to “make sure (they) covered the different angles of this candidacy”.

If he were to be elected, Dr Chee said his priority would be to “ensure the efficient and productive management” of the town council, an issue that political analysts had previously said would be central in voters’ minds, given this is a single ward.

Dr Chee added that the SDP would not engage a managing agent to manage the town council, but would instead employ qualified and experienced professionals, including possibly the existing staff at the Jurong Town Council’s Bukit Batok office.

Speaking to TODAY after the walkabout, Dr Chee said he was not concerned by the fact that any candidate sent by the PAP would have the backing of Mr Tharman, who led a team in neighbouring Jurong GRC to the biggest winning margin in GE2015. Noting that former MP David Ong was also endorsed by the party, he said the PAP would have to show voters what its new candidate can offer.