GE2025: WP says to measure its candidates against PAP backbenchers, not ministers
East Coast GRC team leader Yee Jenn Jong hopes to contribute as he knows the ground well
[SINGAPORE] Voters should measure the Workers’ Party’s (WP) slate against the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) backbenchers, rather than political officeholders, said chief Pritam Singh on Friday (Apr 25).
“It’s backbencher versus backbencher, because the WP is not going to be in government,” he told reporters during a walkabout at Bedok 85 Fengshan Hawker Centre.
“What my proposition to voters to consider is, to understand that backbencher for backbencher, you’ve got a serious choice there,” said Singh. “The WP has put forward a serious slate of individuals so that Singaporeans can consider that choice carefully.”
In Thursday’s PAP rally, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told voters not to give the opposition a “free pass”, and to “apply the same standards to them as you do to the PAP, in terms of integrity, competence and readiness to serve”.
On Friday, Singh said: “I understand why the prime minister will have that view. He wants as many of his MPs in Parliament as possible.”
As WP’s medium-term goal is to win a third of parliamentary seats, WP and PAP have different opinions on “what is sufficient at this point, in terms of the evolution of our political system”.
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Asked how he would convince voters in constituencies where the ruling party has swopped ministers, Singh reiterated that WP’s candidates will be backbenchers if elected.
He noted that a PAP candidate for Aljunied had implied that anchor ministers may not have time to be on the ground. “That means that (in) a constituency like Marsiling-Yew Tee, for example, you’ve got officeholders – how does that work out in terms of time on the ground?”
Coming out of retirement
Singh was with WP’s East Coast GRC slate, led by Yee Jenn Jong and comprising Paris V Parameswari, Sufyan Mikhail Putra, Jasper Kuan and Nathaniel Koh.
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Early on Friday, the candidates greeted hawker centre patrons, along with Singh and party chair Sylvia Lim.
Asked about his return after retiring post-GE2020, Yee replied that at the time, he was retiring from “active politics”, not leaving the party.
Yee first ran in Joo Chiat SMC in GE2011, where his marginal loss – by 388 votes – earned him an appointment as Non-Constituency MP. After Joo Chiat was merged into Marine Parade GRC, Yee contested there in GE2015 and GE2020.
On Friday, he said he intended to help as much as he can. “I feel that I can contribute (in East Coast GRC), because I know this place very well.”
He noted that after boundary changes, some 40,000 residents from Joo Chiat and Chai Chee – formerly in Marine Parade GRC – are now in East Coast GRC.
“So if you think about it, more than a quarter of East Coast residents are actually from the Marine Parade area, (where) we have also worked very hard.”
Singh described Yee as a “party heavyweight”, contrary to the view that WP is not fielding such candidates in East Coast GRC.
“I’ve got somebody with a load of experience leading the team,” he said. “I’ve got somebody who has got a very big heart.”
Asked what residents have flagged as concerns, East Coast teammate Kuan said cost of living was top of mind. As a former educator, he is also concerned about youth issues.
SDP alternatives for healthcare, foreign worker policy
Separately, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) held Friday’s only rally for Bukit Panjang SMC. Party chair Paul Tambyah spoke on the SDP’s alternative healthcare insurance plan, adding that he would be happy to debate the PAP on it.
Party chief Chee Soon Juan criticised the PAP’s foreign worker policies, arguing that the growing foreigner population hurts Singapore in various aspects, from mental health to infrastructure to societal cohesion.
He called on PM Wong to state what he thinks is the optimal population size for Singapore.
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