GE2020: Worker's Party unveils 12 presumed candidates, including Nicole Seah but no Low

SINGAPORE — In a Facebook video released shortly after President Halimah Yacob announced on Tuesday (23 June) the dissolution of Parliament ahead of the General Election (GE), the Workers’ Party (WP) unveiled 12 presumptive candidates with one notable exception: former WP chief Low Thia Khiang.

The 12-second video entitled “GE2020: Coming Soon” included smiling shots of two Aljunied GRC Members of Parliament - WP chief Pritam Singh and party chair Sylvia Lim - as well as Non-Constituency MPs Leon Perera and Dennis Tan.

Also included were former Punggol East MP Lee Li Lian, who lost her seat in 2015, as well as party stalwarts Cheryl Denise Loh and Kenneth Foo, who ran unsuccessfully in Nee Soon GRC five years ago.

Perhaps the highlight of the video was former National Solidarity Party member Nicole Seah, and one-time golden girl of the 2011 GE.

Low, who is still recovering from injuries sustained in a bad fall in April, was conspicuous by his absence in the video. Also absent were his fellow Aljunied MPs Faisal Manap and Chen Show Mao, who unsuccessfully challenged Low for the party leadership back in 2016. Hougang MP Png Eng Huat was also nowhere to be seen.

There were also four new faces in the video: Jamus Lim, Raeesah Khan, Fadli Fawzi and Yudhishthra Nathan. Yahoo News Singapore has reached out to the WP with queries on whether it will be unveiling more candidates.

Citing party insiders, The Straits Times reported that the WP is contesting five wards at the GE: Aljunied, East Coast and Marine Parade and the newly formed Sengkang GRC, as well as the single-seat Hougang.

In April, it was announced that NCMP Daniel Goh would not be taking part in the forthcoming election due to ill health.

Nomination Day is next Tuesday, 30 June, while Polling Day will be on Friday, 10 July.

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