Retiring MPs to ‘play a part in ensuring smooth succession'

SINGAPORE — Where possible, the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) potential new candidates for the General Election will be introduced by retiring Members of Parliament (MPs) who they will take over from, said the party’s organising secretary Ng Eng Hen today (July 26).

A departure from previous elections where new candidates are usually introduced by a minister, the new approach of introducing new prospective MPs and recognising those stepping down at the same time will be more “deliberate and dignified”, said Dr Ng, who is also Defence Minister.

To help ensure smoother succession, retiring MPs should also prepare the ground, assure residents of continuity of care and say their goodbyes, he said, adding that most of these new faces have already been walking the ground various constituencies at least a year ago.

Dr Ng added that retiring MPs had a big say in who their prospective successors may be.

“We put (the new candidates) on the ground and got feedback from the (incumbent) MP, because if the next person doesn’t do as good a job as you, all your efforts will be wasted…They gave us direct feedback and we asked them for their assessment,” he said.

Mr Inderjit Singh, who announced last Friday that he will be stepping down after almost 20 years as MP in Ang Mo Kio GRC, said the new format is “not a bad idea, especially if the new candidates had spent enough time with the older MPs”.

Mr Singh added that having prospective candidates walk the ground early benefits both the candidate and residents. “Nowadays, more and more, people are looking at the person in addition to the party. So the only way for the person to be known is if he has spent enough time with the residents,” he said.

And food-supply company Foodtraco Supplies executive director Henry Kwek, 39, who has been shadowing him for the past one year, would be his “ideal successor”, he said.