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All eyes on ruling party’s slate for Aljunied

SINGAPORE — With Nomination Day only five days away, all eyes are on who the People’s Action Party (PAP) will field in the four remaining constituencies it has yet to show its hand in.

Mr Lim Boon Heng speaking to the media after a meeting with Kaki Bukit activists. He has extolled the hard work that PAP’s branch chairmen have put in. Photo: Robin Choo

Mr Lim Boon Heng speaking to the media after a meeting with Kaki Bukit activists. He has extolled the hard work that PAP’s branch chairmen have put in. Photo: Robin Choo

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SINGAPORE — With Nomination Day only five days away, all eyes are on who the People’s Action Party (PAP) will field in the four remaining constituencies it has yet to show its hand in.

Most highly anticipated of the lot, however, is the ruling party’s line-up in Aljunied GRC, given that the squad there will be tasked with the unprecedented mission of regaining a multi-member territory.

While it was long thought that the assignment would be given to the PAP’s five branch chairmen in the constituency, Mr Kahar Hassan’s departure from Kaki Bukit at the start of the month after 16 months working the ground threw those expectations up in the air.

That former PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng, who retired from politics four years ago, made several appearances in the opposition-held constituency in recent weeks has served only to ratchet up intrigue on whether he could make a dramatic return to lead the charge.

Add to that the fact that the spot for former Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Yeo Guat Kwang has not been confirmed, rumours are swirling that the PAP may not be sending in an all-rookie team.

Asked yesterday whether he would be standing in Aljunied, Mr Lim, 67, did not answer the question in his email response to TODAY, choosing instead to extol the hard work that the PAP’s branch chairmen in the constituency had put in.

The former Cabinet minister’s comments, however, left the door ajar to possible changes to the line-up. In particular, while he noted that Ms Chan Hui Yuh had stepped forward to “help reorganise a fractured Serangoon” despite having two young children to care for, Mr Lim added: “I worry whether the pressure will be too great.”

Bedok branch chairman Victor Lye has been there for many years, including taking one-and-a-half year’s unpaid leave to work the ground, while it has been two-and-a-half years since Eunos branch chairman Chua Eng Leong “volunteered to fight to win back Aljunied”, said Mr Lim.

He added that Mr K Muralidharan Pillai had responded to his call to “help me regroup Paya Lebar, without a thought of standing for election, persisting even though he had work pressure and family matters to attend to, and then could not walk away after working with the activists”.

Asked to shed light on why former PAP Kaki Bukit branch chairman Kahar Hassan had stepped down last month, Mr Lim would say only that “our 360-degree assessment indicated that he may not be the right fit”.

“So we asked Shamsul to come back. He had spent five years in Kaki Bukit previously. Things have settled down,” Mr Lim said, referring to Mr Shamsul Kamar, who was a grassroots leader in Kaki Bukit from 2006 to 2011.

Mr Lim added: “The team members are known to the residents. They should be given due credit for their courage. But what has come across to many residents they interacted with is that these are people who are committed and sincerely wish to serve.”

When contacted, Mr Yeo was also tight-lipped on where he would be deployed, saying the public should wait for the party’s announcement. Still, party sources described the state of affairs in Aljunied, in terms of who would be contesting, as “very fluid”.

They said they had seen Mr Yeo in the constituency and are not ruling out the possibility that he could be part of the team, while indicating that the notion of Mr Lim being fielded to strengthen the team had been bandied about. They also hinted that candidates could be swopped among neighbouring GRCs right up to the eve of Nomination Day.

While he does not think Mr Lim is likely to return to the political arena, political analyst Eugene Tan acknowledged that the move would “add weight” to the line-up, given his pedigree, having held the top posts of PAP chairman, labour chief and Cabinet minister. It could also send a signal to voters there that the PAP is fielding “as good a team as it can”.

The downside, should the Workers’ Party retain the constituency comfortably despite the heavyweight addition, is that it will “present an even bigger headache for the next GE”, he added. “The question would be: What is it going to take for the PAP to win back Aljunied? They could be setting up a bigger challenge for themselves,” said Associate Professor Tan.

Aljunied residents whom TODAY spoke to were eager to learn about the identities of the PAP slate. Mr Abdul Rashid Gapur, 47, a lecturer, said: “I am interested to know who the PAP candidates are, to see what they will be able to do for the area. I am quite anxious to find out as I don’t know what to expect even though Polling Day is drawing near.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MARISSA YEO

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