WP digs in at Aljunied against the PAP

Singapore

THE Aljunied incumbents from the Workers' Party (WP) will - as pledged - defend their turf in this year's general election.

The opposition party's secretary-general also called on its supporters to send more of its candidates into parliament. But rather than addressing the supporters gathered at the nomination centre on Tuesday, Low Thia Khiang chose to put out a message on WP's website.

"Do you want to send a signal to the ruling party that the government should continue to be transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the people?" he said.

He acknowledged the trade-offs to every policy, but asked "how many more" should Singaporeans tolerate. He said people must be "freed from the political net-trap" where talented professionals in Singaporeans have to worry about political correctness in decision-making.

Mr Low and his team filed their nomination papers at Raffles Institution on Tuesday to contest in the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC). He was joined by WP chairman Sylvia Lim, Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, Pritam Singh and Chen Show Mao. All except Mr Low and Ms Lim addressed the crowd, with Mr Singh urging supporters not to let Singapore slide back to a "one-party Parliament".

"Four years ago, you elected this Workers' Party team as your Members of Parliament. Four years later, we stand before you, more determined than ever before, to serve you and your community," he said. Mr Low, when asked for comments at the nomination centre, asked reporters instead to show up at rallies.

WP's Koh Choong Yong was also there to file his papers for the Sengkang West Single Member Constituency. He will contest against the incumbent from the People's Action Party (PAP), Lam Pin Min. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also submitted his papers at the nomination centre to contest in Ang Mo Kio GRC as part of the PAP team.

There was likewise no change to the indicated PAP line-up for Aljunied, with the team comprising Yeo Guat Kwang, Victor Lye, Chua Eng Leong, K Muralidharan Pillai and Shamsul Kamar, urging the voters to bring Aljunied home to PAP. "Dear Aljunied voters, we are back. Please vote for us, and let us wholeheartedly serve you," said Mr Yeo, who is the assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress, in Mandarin.

The team was accompanied by former minister Lim Boon Heng, who reignited rumours for a brief moment that he would be running at Aljunied.

This comes as heat around the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) and its management remains. AHPETC said on Monday it is now disputing claims made by its former managing agent for services delivered between April and July 2014. The agent, FM Solutions and Services (FMSS), has claimed S$3.5 million; the town council said it has paid "substantial" amounts of it, but will seek mediation in October over the rest of the disputed sum. Ms Lim has been tight-lipped on details, saying that mediation is a private matter.

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