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[SINGAPORE] From 11th-hour switcheroos to a shock walkover and even a historic four-cornered fight, Nomination Day on Wednesday (Apr 23) was riddled with suspense and surprises up to the very last minute, as Singaporeans were kept guessing about the final slates in several key battlegrounds for the May 3 general election (GE).

With the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) claiming victory in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC via a walkover – the first since 2011 – a total of 92 out of 97 seats across 33 constituencies will be contested, with 206 candidates in the race.

Arguably the biggest surprise stemmed from Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong’s move to lead the PAP team in Punggol GRC, having helmed Chua Chu Kang GRC since 2011. 

His move is reminiscent of Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat’s last-minute switch to anchor East Coast GRC in 2020, to fend off the challenge from the Workers’ Party (WP).

Taking DPM Gan’s place in Chua Chu Kang GRC is Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, who had said earlier that he would anchor the party’s Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC slate.

Ahead of Nomination Day, there was some speculation that Punggol GRC could be helmed by Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, after he said he was not contesting in Pasir Ris-Changi GRC. DPM Heng was also widely expected to defend East Coast GRC or be redeployed to Punggol GRC.

Instead, as Nomination Day proceedings drew to a close at noon, it became clear that SM Teo and DPM Heng were not going to be fielded anywhere. Their departure from politics – after 33 years and 14 years, respectively – brings the number of retiring political officeholders to six.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday afternoon, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong explained the thinking behind the redeployments, noting that he moved DPM Gan to Punggol as it was “really not easy to find a senior office-holder of a similar stature” to take over from SM Teo.

With PM Wong in the west in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC and Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong in central Singapore’s Ang Mo Kio GRC, the prime minister said: “That’s a better distribution of our senior leadership for the campaign. If we are elected, that’s also a better spread of leadership to make sure that we can cover the whole of Singapore.”

Asked how he thinks voters will take to the PAP’s strategy of redeploying ministers at the last minute, PM Wong said this was not the first time this has been done, and that preparing for an election was “always a dynamic matter” with many moving parts.

“We try our best not to have too many movements, but from time to time, we have to make some of these, and we have done so in this election,” he said.

With the Workers’ Party not contesting as expected in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, the PAP team of Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng, Minister of State Faishal Ibrahim, three-term MP Tin Pei Ling as well as first-time candidates Goh Pei Ming and Diana Pang were declared elected.

At about 1pm, WP secretary-general Pritam Singh wrote on Facebook that his party had decided not to deploy a team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, given its limited resources, particularly after the electoral boundaries were redrawn. The leading opposition party ended up fielding 26 candidates in eight constituencies.

Over in Tampines GRC, a historic four-cornered fight is taking shape – the first for a group representation constituency in a GE – involving the PAP, WP, National Solidarity Party (NSP) and People’s Power Party.

WP expects tough fight

Shortly after Nomination Day proceedings, Singh told reporters outside Poi Ching School, one of the nine nomination centres, that he expects the GE to be a “tough fight” for the WP, even if last-minute changes to the PAP’s line-up were to be expected.

“We expected this because it is no coincidence to me, at least, that areas WP would likely contest were reserved to the end, when the PAP were making their announcements,” he said.

Asked if WP had made a miscalculation by not contesting in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, and is instead facing a four-cornered showdown in Tampines GRC, Singh said: “It’s not a case as if everyone knew in advance that the PAP would field the slate (in Marine Parade GRC).”

“I’m not going to say it’s a weakened slate because there’s no such thing as weak candidates,” he said. “I’m sure they were watching where we were going, but this is what we’ve decided to do.”

Singh is helming WP’s Aljunied GRC team again with two new faces – lawyer Fadli Fawzi, who was fielded in Marine Parade GRC in GE2020, and AI startup founder Kenneth Tiong. This put to rest earlier speculation that Singh would move elsewhere, given that the Aljunied has been a WP stronghold since 2011.

Instead, Aljunied MP Faisal Manap, who made his political debut in 2011, is leading WP’s team that includes four first-timers in Tampines GRC.

Senior counsel Harpreet Singh, touted as WP’s “star catch”, will go head-to-head with DPM Gan in Punggol GRC.

Meanwhile, WP’s Andre Low, a former disputes lawyer, will square off against the PAP’s Ng Chee Meng in the newly carved out Jalan Kayu SMC, where the labour chief is hoping to stage a political comeback after losing in Sengkang GRC in GE2020.

Other key battlegrounds to watch

Another key constituency to watch is West Coast-Jurong West GRC, where the PAP and Progress Singapore Party (PSP) are set for a rematch.

Minister for National Development Desmond Lee leads the PAP team consisting of Senior Parliamentary Secretary Shawn Huang, three-term MP Ang Wei Neng and two first-timers – orthopaedic surgeon Hamid Razak and lawyer Cassandra Lee.

Their opponent is PSP’s A-team, comprising its top three leaders – former PAP MP Tan Cheng Bock, secretary-general Leong Mun Wai and vice-chair Hazel Poa – as well as two newcomers Sani Ismail, who runs a condo management firm, and Sumarleki Amjah, who heads business development in a multinational firm.

In an address to supporters at the Nan Hua High School nomination centre, Leong challenged Desmond Lee to a debate on policies, saying this would help voters decide who has better ideas.

He later told reporters that the PSP was willing to accept the debate in any form and on any topic.

In total, PSP is fielding 15 candidates across six wards – two of which are group representation constituencies.

Responding to PSP’s challenge, Desmond Lee said “there are platforms during GE for political parties to debate policies”.

He said his team has put out “detailed proposals and local plans to benefit residents”, adding that PSP should do the same.

Up north, Sembawang GRC is one of four constituencies facing a three-cornered battle.

The PAP team led by Health Minister Ong Ye Kung will jostle with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) team led by party vice-chairman Bryan Lim and the NSP team led by party chief Spencer Ng.

In the neighbouring Sembawang West SMC, PAP backbencher Poh Li San will defend her turf against SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan.

Soon after the Nomination Day proceedings were over, all the candidates wasted no time hitting the trail as the nine-day campaign kicked off.

With campaigning now in full swing, all eyes will be on the return of physical rallies for the first time in a decade. Such rallies were not allowed in GE2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic at the time.

The police on Wednesday released a list of 51 designated rally sites that parties can make use of from Apr 24 to May 1.

Among them are two venues earmarked for lunchtime rallies – in the promenade area beside UOB Plaza, and The Lawn at Marina Bay.

Separately, all political parties that have fielded at least six candidates are eligible for two party political broadcasts that will be aired on national TV on Apr 25 and May 1.

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