Hougang a safe seat for Workers’ Party: analysts
Political commentators were unanimous in calling Hougang a "safe seat" for the Workers' Party (WP), as residents there prepare to go to the polls again after the general election last May.
This, despite the Yaw Shin Leong saga, which saw the former Member of Parliament (MP) expelled from WP after failing to address allegations of his extra-marital affairs.
The single-member constituency seat has been left vacant since Yaw's sacking on 14 February.
Going by past precedent, Polling Day for the by-election will be on 26 May, if contested, nine days after Nomination Day on 16 May.
Political observer Derek da Cunha is tipping the WP to win the seat “quite handily even if there is a multi-cornered fight”.
“We have to keep in mind that this has been a WP stronghold for two decades,” he pointed out.
He added, “The WP's hammer symbol is highly recognisable in Hougang and voter sentiment there remains very favourable towards the WP, notwithstanding the Yaw Shin Leong episode. This is not least due to the efforts of WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang.”
Da Cunha is also expecting the PAP to deploy its heavyweights to help its candidate - likely to be Desmond Choo - but said that "unless there is some totally unexpected development, I do not think this will make much impact in favour of the PAP".
SMU political science lecturer Bridget Welsh told Yahoo! Singapore that the calling of the by-election shows that “the PAP is willing to face a tough contest in what is known as a safe WP seat”, a sentiment shared by Nominated MP Eugene Tan.
Tan added that he thinks the WP will field Png Eng Huat in the impending contest. Png, 50, was a WP candidate in East Coast GRC last year and had chaired the Hougang Constituency Committee since Yaw's dismissal.
“I think they’re confident that their branding that they’ve nurtured for more than 20 years in Hougang would be able to provide sufficient lift for Mr Png," Tan lets on.
On the timing of the by-election, Tan, who had expected the by-election to take place at the end of the year, said it could be Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's way of reminding Hougang voters "that there’s a need to hold the Workers’ Party to the same high standards that they hold the PAP too" while the Yaw fiasco is still fresh in their minds.
“There may be some voters who may be discomforted by WP’s not being as forthcoming as they’d like them to be,” Tan speculated. But he cautioned: "It’s something which the PAP would want to keep on the agenda, but they would have to be mindful not to overplay it.”
The assistant law professor at SMU also expressed surprise at PM Lee’s decision to call a by-election in Hougang only.
Since April, rumours have been rife online that the PM might just call for a by-election in his Ang Mo Kio ward, together with Hougang, to "strengthen his cabinet".
“He probably felt that it’d be better to keep it simple… to isolate this by-election,” Tan noted. “And I think having more than one by-election could unnecessarily stimulate another round of political excitement, which I think at this point in time, is not the focus.”
Still, Tan noted that it would still be “interesting” to see how both parties position themselves.
“Here’s a situation where PM appears to be quite keen to get this issue out of the way so that the government can focus on the larger issues," Tan said, before adding, "This by-election will probably mean more to the WP than the PAP. I don’t think PAP will want to make it a mini-GE, if I can put it that way.”
