GE2025: Edwin Tong heads PAP team in East Coast GRC; former NCMP Yee Jenn Jong makes comeback for WP
DPM Heng Swee Keat did not file his nomination papers
[SINGAPORE] Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat will not lead the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) team in East Coast GRC, after Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong was confirmed to anchor the five-member slate that includes Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How, incumbent Jessica Tan, and first-time candidates Hazlina Abdul Halim and Dinesh Vasu Dash.
They will face off against a Workers’ Party (WP) team comprising former Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong, newcomers Jasper Kuan, Sufyan Mikhail Putra and Paris V Parameswari, as well as former Marine Parade GRC candidate Nathaniel Koh.
DPM Heng did not file nomination papers for any other constituency on Wednesday (Apr 23), which means he will not contest the May 3 general election.
In a Facebook post shortly after nominations closed, DPM Heng said he believed it was the “right time” to make way for a new team of capable individuals who are well-placed to serve Singapore.
“I am confident that they will serve with heart and strength. I urge our East Coast residents to give your strong support to them,” he said.
He wrote that amid these turbulent times, “we will need a strong leader” to navigate the choppy waters ahead.
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“I believe Lawrence Wong will continue to lead with conviction, and I hope Singaporeans will give him a strong mandate to lead Singapore through this turbulent time,” he said.
In a thank-you speech, Tong said: “We will turn aspirations to reality. If elected, we will serve all of you with everything we have.”
Both the PAP and WP were coy about their East Coast GRC line-ups ahead of Nomination Day, with neither confirming their candidates until they turned up to file their papers at Yusof Ishak Secondary School.
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“Nothing can be taken for granted (during elections),” Tong told reporters after the nomination proceedings, describing WP’s Yee as a “good opponent”.
Asked about when he learned about DPM Heng’s retirement, Tong said that he only found out a few weeks ago that the Joo Chiat ward he had been overseeing was moved to East Coast GRC.
As for his views on whether voters may be concerned over having fewer political office holders in the East Coast team, Tong said the candidates’ personal connection to the voters mattered more than ministerial presence.
In GE2020, the PAP’s East Coast team led by DPM Heng won with 53.39 per cent of the vote against a WP team comprising Kenneth Foo, Nicole Seah, Abdul Shariff Aboo Kassim, Dylan Ng and Terence Tan.
This was after DPM Heng, then the prime-minister-in-waiting, made a last-minute switch from Tampines GRC – where he was the incumbent – to lead the East Coast team.
Two members of the PAP’s GE2020 team in East Coast, Maliki Osman and Cheryl Chan, had earlier announced their retirement from politics.
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