PAP to unveil candidate for Bukit Batok by-election on Monday

SINGAPORE – The People’s Action Party (PAP) will introduce its candidate for the Bukit Batok by-election on Monday (March 21), the party said.

The identity of the candidate remains under wraps, though Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam hinted on Sunday that he or she is “someone who is known to the residents, who works very hard and is sincere at heart.”

“We got someone whom we are very confident of,” added Mr Tharman, the anchor-minister for Jurong Group Representative Constituency (GRC).

The Bukit Batok seat, a single member ward carved out of the Jurong GRC in last year’s general election, was vacated after the abrupt resignation of its former MP David Ong on March 12.

Mr Ong cited “personal indiscretions” as part of the reason for stepping down. He has not explained his decision in details, though multiple reports have linked his decision to an extramarital affair with a grassroots volunteer, Ms Wendy Lim. Ms Lim resigned from the PAP last week.

The PAP won Bukit Batok with 73.02 per cent of the vote in last year’s election, beating out the Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) Sadasivam Veriyah, who got 26.4 per cent of the vote, and independent candidate Samir Salim Neji, who received just 0.6 per cent of the vote.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said a by-election for Bukit Batok would be held “in due course”. Experts say the earliest polling dates are in May.

SDP chief Dr Chee Soon Juan announced his candidacy for the Bukit Batok by-election earlier on Sunday. He has been noticeably active in the single member constituency since Mr Ong’s shock resignation. On March 13, a day after news of the political scandal broke, Dr Chee led an SDP walk about in Bukit Batok and informed residents that a by-election was coming up. In the past week, Dr Chee has also regularly posted photos and updates on Facebook showing him engaging with Bukit Batok residents. On Saturday, he and his team took part in a blood donation drive at Bukit Batok Secondary School after several house visits.

“I’m not surprised that Dr Chee Soon Juan has indicated that he is going to stand in Bukit Batok. We welcome the contest,” Mr Tharman said on the sidelines of a remembrance event for the one-year death anniversary of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Initial signs of a multi-cornered fight in Bukit Batok appear to be on the wane. Channel NewsAsia has reported that Democratic Progressive Party secretary-general Benjamin Pwee would not contest in the by-election, reversing his earlier decision last week. Mr Neji, the independent candidate, has previously said he would contest the by-election. It is unclear if he would change his mind.

The Workers’ Party, the only Opposition party to have won seats in last year’s election, has ruled itself out of the contest.