SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh said on 24 April that the party’s decision to contest Tampines GRC in the upcoming General Election had been long in the making, and was not a last-minute shift.
Speaking to the media during a doorstop interview at Kopitam Square, Singh said the WP had been walking the ground in Tampines since before the 2020 election.
According to Singh, the WP had always wanted to contest Tampines, but had not found a suitable team at the time.
“We wanted to field an A team there, but at that point, we did not have a good enough group of people who were prepared to step forward,” he said.
“We’ve got a strong slate today and it was only natural—or logical—that we move into the ward.”
The surprise decision meant that the WP did not contest in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC this time around, a constituency it had previously fielded teams in during both the 2015 and 2020 elections.
Former Aljunied MP Faisal Manap leads Tampines slate
Tampines GRC will now witness a rare four-cornered contest in GE2025.
The WP’s team is led by former Aljunied MP Faisal Abdul Manap, joined by new faces Ong Lue Ping, Michael Thng, Eileen Chong and Jimmy Tan.
They will face off against the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) team led by Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli, alongside candidates from the National Solidarity Party (NSP) and the People’s Power Party (PPP).
Marine Parade absence sparks criticism
The WP’s absence from Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC led to the PAP team being declared elected on Nomination Day after no alternative party contested there.
This drew criticism from other alternative parties, some of whom said they had expected WP’s participation.
PPP secretary-general Goh Meng Seng told the media that his party would have contested the GRC had the WP not been “mum about their deployment.” He described the WP’s silence as “purely irresponsible.”
Singh responded pointedly: “Goh should focus on the campaign in Tampines.”
Singh: WP respects other parties’ autonomy, coordination not a standard practice
When asked if the WP should have informed other alternative parties to avoid a walkover in Marine Parade, Singh said it wasn’t standard practice to coordinate in that way.
“It’s not as if some of these alternative parties – and full respect to them, because they have the right to contest elections – but they don’t approach us when they say: ‘Can I stand here, can I stand there?’” said Singh.
“We respect them, we respect their agency. They make decisions in their enlightened self-interest and so do we.”
Singh added that he had visited residents in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC after Nomination Day to explain the WP’s decision.
“I acknowledged and validated their disappointment that we were not standing there,” he said.
“But after I explained to them the reality of boundaries being withdrawn, and our own calculations as a party, I think they understood.”
‘Even the PAP didn’t confirm its slate until the end’
Singh also addressed suggestions that the WP’s planning had been last-minute.
He argued that party strategy evolves as the situation changes and said there was “nothing untoward” about the WP’s decisions.
“As I mentioned previously, you could tell that even the PAP didn’t confirm its slate until the end. So certainly we were quite clear what we wanted to do,” he said.
“We put forward the best slate of candidates we can for Singapore. We want a more balanced political system.”
Multi-cornered fights are here to stay
The WP chief reiterated his earlier observation that multi-cornered contests are likely to become the norm in Singapore’s elections.
“I expected there to be three-, four-cornered fights in this election campaign, but they shouldn’t dissuade us from putting forward a credible proposition to Singaporeans for a rational, responsible party in Parliament,” said Singh.
He was accompanied during the morning walkabout by former WP chief Low Thia Khiang and former Hougang MP Png Eng Huat, both showing visible support for the party’s latest slate.
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