PAP to field top lawyer for Bukit Batok by-election

THE People's Action Party (PAP) will field prominent lawyer K Muralidharan Pillai as its candidate for the upcoming by-election in Bukit Batok.

The party made the announcement at a press conference on Monday, which was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and PAP second assistant secretary-general Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Mr Murali was part of the five-member PAP team that narrowly lost to the Workers' Party in Aljunied GRC at last September's general election.

The 48-year-old, the head of Rajah & Tann's Commercial Litigation Practice, was a former branch secretary at the PAP's Bukit Batok branch.

The PAP also announced on Monday that he has been appointed as the new branch chairman in Bukit Batok.

Mr Murali's main opponent in the by-election will be Singapore Democratic Party secretary-general Chee Soon Juan, who officially announced his candidacy on Sunday.

The by-election was triggered by the shock resignation of Bukit Batok's MP David Ong on March 12. Mr Ong's decision is believed to be linked to an extra-marital affair he had with a fellow PAP member.