PAP set to unveil Bukit Batok candidate 'whom we are very confident of': DPM Tharman
SINGAPORE – The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) will soon unveil a candidate "whom we are very confident of" for the upcoming Bukit Batok by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told reporters on Sunday (March 20).
SINGAPORE – The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) will soon unveil a candidate "whom we are very confident of" for the upcoming Bukit Batok by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told reporters on Sunday (March 20).
His comments came shortly after Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Dr Chee Soon Juan announced his candidacy for the polls in the single member constituency, which was vacated after the shock resignation of its former MP David Ong on March 12.
"I'm not surprised that Dr Chee Soon Juan has indicated that he is going to stand in Bukit Batok," Mr Tharman said on the sidelines of a remembrance event for the one-year death anniversary of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. "We welcome the contest."
Pressed by reporters on the identity of the PAP candidate, Mr Tharman would only say he or she is "someone who is known to the residents, who works very hard and is sincere at heart."
He added: "We got someone whom we are very confident of. We won't keep you waiting too long, at all."
Initial signs of a multi-cornered fight in Bukit Batok appear to be on the wane. Channel NewsAsia reported on Sunday that Democratic Progressive Party secretary-general Benjamin Pwee would not contest in the by-election, reversing his earlier decision last week.
Independent candidate Samir Salim Neji, who received just 0.6 per cent of the vote in Bukit Batok when he contested the ward in last year's election has previously said he would contest the by-election. It is unclear if he would change his mind.
However, the Workers' Party, the only Opposition party to have won seats in last year's election, has ruled itself out of the contest.
The PAP won Bukit Batok with 73.02 per cent of the vote in last year's election, beating out SDP's Sadasivam Veriyah, who got 26.4 per cent of the vote.