Battle royale expected at Aljunied GRC between PAP, WP

UPDATED

Expect a big fight between the ruling People's Action Party and opposition parties on polling day come 7 May, as 82 out of 87 Parliamentary seats will be up for grabs.

The only group representation constituency to see a walkover was the five-member Tanjong Pagar GRC, which has been helmed by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew for 56 years, while the only three-cornered fight will be at Punggol East single member constituency.

A five-member team, which included Socialist Front chairman Ng Teck Siong and Singapore Democratic Alliance assistant secretary general Nazem Suki, wanted to contest the GRC but was 35 seconds too late in filing their candidacies at the Singapore Chinese Girls' School.

In a long awaited move, both veteran opposition politicians Low Thia Khiang and Chiam See Tong have stepped out of their single seat wards in Hougang and Potong Pasir respectively, to contest in a GRC.

At Aljunied GRC, where one of the hottest contests is expected to take place, Low, who is the Workers' Party's chief, and his team will face off against the People's Action Party slate led by Foreign Minister George Yeo.

Low's team includes "star catch" Chen Show Mao, WP party chairman Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh, Yaw Shin Leong and Muhamad Faisal bin Abdul.

WP's Lim made no bones about her party's decision to field their best team at Aljunied GRC during her speech at the nomination centre at Deyi Secondary School.

She said, "We are determined to make a breakthrough in Aljunied GRC. We believe your lives will improve if PAP faces a strong challenge in Parliament....We trust you. You are our secret weapon."

On his part, Minister Yeo said his team will "fight hard to win every heart and mind of voter."

"We have detailed plans to develop Aljunied in the next five years. This will be a crucial contest...Give us your full support," he said.

Over at Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Chiam, who has held his Potong Pasir seat since 1984, will contest against the PAP slate led by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng.

Chiam, who is leads the Singapore People's Party (SPP), said, "Vote for SPP and the SPP will get the PAP to be more accountable... If you want the credit, you must be able to take the fall."

Even as opposition supporters chanted "Mas Selamat, Mas Selamat", Minister Wong said, "You know what we have done for the last five years. I know you will choose wisely."

The Reform Party has fielded a team led by businessman Mansor Rahman to challenge Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's hold on Ang Mo Kio GRC, while the Singapore Democratic Party team led by Dr Vincent Wijeysingha will meet the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan and his team in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

Several opposition candidates called on voters to ensure the PAP is held "accountable" in their speeches on Wednesday, while PAP candidates reminded voters of what was at stake and the ruling party's track record.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who will lead the PAP's Marine Parade GRC team said, "Vote for your future, your family … vote for people you can trust, people you know."

But youngest candidate Nicole Seah from the National Solidarity Party urged voters: "Why is NSP in Marine Parade GRC, a constituency that has not been contested for 19 years? It's because residents, citizens of Singapore, you have a choice. You have a choice to hold the PAP accountable for its policies."

What to expect in coming days

From now till Singaporeans go to the polls on May 7, parties will be actively campaigning.

Baring any controversies, senior researcher Terence Chong expects the PAP to point to estate upgrades as "a sign of a competent government" and turn to their "track record" to "invoke a sense of voter security and political continuity".

The opposition, on the other hand, is expected to run on the issues of housing prices and the need for government accountability.

He noted, greater political awareness and ground discontent have resulted in more seats being contested.

"What the opposition parties will need to do now is to convince voters that having a stronger opposition presence in Parliament will enable them to ask tougher questions and will also send a signal to the PAP that they should not take their majority for granted," said political commentator and founder of website Yawning Bread Alex Au.

"For the PAP, they will need to convince voters that they are sympathetic to the impact of the cost of living on voters and that they have reliable plans to combat that," he said.

With almost all the seats contested, the "excitement factor will go up," said Au. "To have nearly all voters in Singapore being able to vote will certainly make this an issue that reverberates, resonates across many places."

For independent scholar Derek da Cunha, the main surprise is that there is only one three-cornered fight at Punggol East SMC. He pointed to a combination of factors, such as the sudden withdrawal of a few independent candidates, which led to this outcome.

"The focus may now be evenly split between the SMCs and a few GRCs. To me, the PAP has clearly got its work cut out," he said.

What will be crucial in the days ahead will be the ground campaign where the candidates make direct, face-to-face contact with voters, noted Dr da Cunha.

He added, there is a fair chance that one GRC and two or three SMCs, other than Hougang, may go to the opposition.

But with the possibility of prospects changing dramatically for either side during this campaigning period, Dr da Cunha said, "Essentially, we will have to wait for the nature of the PAP response during the campaign and how voters might react to it."

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