GE2025 daily roundup: Nomination Day surprise moves, multi-cornered fights, election rally sites and more

[SINGAPORE] From the Workers’ Party pulling out of Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, to Gan Kim Yong helming the PAP team for the new Punggol GRC, there was no shortage of surprises on Nomination Day this GE2025.

Overall, 92 out of 97 seats will be contested, and five multi-cornered fights will take place.

Here is the breakdown on who’s running and where, surprise switches and decisions not to stand, and what candidates are saying about their decisions.

Surprise moves

• A WP surprise pull-out from Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC created the first walkover since 2011. The five-member PAP team includes new candidates Diana Pang and Goh Pei Ming, a former SAF chief of staff who is replacing Manpower Minister Tan See Leng. 

• Manpower Minister Tan See Leng will anchor PAP’s team for Chua Chu Kang GRC in a surprise switch, facing the PSP. Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong was originally announced to be the anchor.

• DPM Gan Kim Yong will now helm PAP’s team for Punggol GRC against a WP team led by senior counsel Harpreet Singh in an 11th-hour surprise.

Multiple-cornered fights

• Four-way fight for Tampines GRC with three opposition parties challenging the PAP, as WP and PPP joined the expected contest between the NSP and the ruling party. This is GE2025’s only four-way fight – it is the first such contest in a GRC since the 1992 by-election – and the first in a GE.
• Ang Mo Kio GRC will witness two opposition parties – PPP and SUP – challenging PAP. This is SM Lee’s ward, where the other four members of PAP’s line-up are former Aljunied candidate Victor Lye, Darryl David, Nadia Ahmad Samdin and new face Jasmin Lau.
• Potong Pasir SMC will host a three-way battle among the opposition coalition People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR), SPP and the PAP. Peoples Voice party chief Lim Tean, who is also PAR secretary-general, is the coalition’s candidate.  
• Radin Mas SMC sees a three-way fight, with PAP incumbent Melvin Yong and Kumar Appavoo of the People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR) contesting once again, now joined by independent candidate Darryl Lo.   
• Sembawang GRC will see a three-way fight as the incumbent PAP team faces teams from SDP and NSP.

Decisions not to contest

• Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, former anchor minister for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, is retiring from politics.
• DPM Heng Swee Keat will not be on the East Coast team and did not file nomination papers for any other constituency. He will not run in this year’s election. 
• Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Maliki Osman has stepped down. 
• Senior Ministers of State Amy Khor and Heng Chee How will not stand for re-election.

Other noteworthy developments

• SDP’s Chee Soon Juan will contest the newly carved out Sembawang West SMC against incumbent MP Poh Li San. 
• Labour chief and former minister Ng Chee Meng will be the PAP candidate for Jalan Kayu SMC, facing WP. 
• PAP’s East Coast GRC team will be headed by Edwin Tong, anchoring the five-member slate to face off a WP team which includes former non-constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong and former Marine Parade GRC candidate Nathaniel Koh. 
• Former deputy public prosecutor and criminal lawyer Marshall Lim has been fielded as PAP’s candidate for WP stronghold Hougang SMC.
• WP chief Pritam Singh will lead a team with two new faces to defend Aljunied GRC.

What was said about sitting out the race

• WP chief Pritam Singh said sitting out the Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC race was a “difficult decision” to give WP the “best chance of electoral success” by focusing on a smaller number of constituencies. He noted that GE2025 would be a “tough fight” for the party and said the PAP’s last-minute switches were expected. “We expected this because it is no coincidence to me, at least, that areas WP would likely contest were reserved (until) the end, when the PAP were making their announcements,” Singh said. 
• DPM Heng Swee Keat made a statement on his decision not to run in GE2025 in a Facebook post, in which he said that “now is the right time to make way for a new team of capable individuals who are well-placed to serve Singapore”. 
• SM Teo, who is not standing as an MP, said he has not thought about what he will do next. “The most important thing now is to give Prime Minister Lawrence Wong the strongest possible team, to help take us through these turbulent times and into the future,” he said.

Election rally sites

• The police have released a list of designated sites for election meetings to be held from Apr 24 to May 1. Of the 51 sites, 49 have been allocated to the 32 constituencies being contested, with the remaining two sites meant for lunchtime rallies in the Central Business District.
• Rallies can be held between 10 am and 1 pm or 7 pm and 10 pm at all designated sites, except for lunchtime sessions, which will be held between 12 pm and 3 pm.
• “Block balloting” will be implemented during the final nights of the campaigning period to “allow political parties and candidates reasonable opportunities to hold an election meeting near Polling Day,” the police said.
• See below for the full list of electoral rally sites:

For more election coverage, visit our GE2025 microsite