Election digest

Still uphill for PAP in Aljunied: Boon Heng

THE mood on the ground in Aljunied has shifted since the last elections, but it is still going to be tough for the People's Action Party (PAP) to wrest the ward back from the Workers' Party, former Cabinet Minister and PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng has said.

"We sense that the mood has changed. At the beginning, it was quite difficult for the team; people were not very open or very friendly. But now, people are quite friendly," he told The Straits Times after a late-night meeting on Tuesday to discuss campaign strategies.

But he was quick to add that the mood change may not mean more support for the PAP: "Whether that translates into votes for PAP, it's hard to say. Because as (Emeritus Senior Minister) Goh Chok Tong said, many people are friendly to him but it doesn't necessarily translate into votes on the day itself."

Reform Party eyes Pioneer SMC

THE Reform Party said it is interested in fielding a candidate in the single-seat ward of Pioneer, and will do so if the National Solidarity Party withdraws or cannot field a strong candidate. But it stressed that it will not enter a three-cornered fight and urged the NSP to clarify its intentions soon.

In a statement sent to the media on Wednesday, Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam said his party had made "strenuous efforts" to contact NSP leaders in recent days, with no success. "We are therefore declaring our interest publicly," he said.

SDP unveils two more of its 11 candidates

THE Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) unveiled two more candidates on Wednesday, Ms Jaslyn Go and Dr Paul Tambyah, but did not say where they will be fielded.

Ms Go, 42, is on the SDP central executive committee and has been tipped to stand in Yuhua. She joined the party in 2007. Dr Tambyah, 49, has been active with the SDP since before the 2011 polls and became a member recently. He helped put together SDP's policies on health care and education.

NSP president pans mud-slinging in FB note

NATIONAL Solidarity Party (NSP) president Sebastian Teo on Wednesday denounced the "mud-slinging tactics" he said were used to discredit him and his party.

The party was plunged into crisis last week, with the abrupt resignations of two central executive council (CEC) members and online revelations about Mr Teo's conviction for corruption in the 1970s.

"I am confident that these mud-slinging tactics by our rivals and opponents will not work, and that what they reveal instead is a fear by them of the strength and appeal of the NSP," he said in a note in the party's Facebook page.

He reiterated what he told The Straits Times on Monday - that the NSP will contest 12 seats, including the single-seat ward of MacPherson.