SINGAPORE: The opposition Workers’ Party (WP) will contest fewer than a third of 97 parliamentary seats up for grabs in Singapore's General Election on May 3.
This was made known by party chief Pritam Singh on Thursday (Apr 17) at a press conference where the WP unveiled its manifesto and four new candidates.
But he stopped short of specifying the total number of candidates the party was fielding, or which constituencies it was contesting, only saying that these would be announced in good time.
WP had previously said, in 2019, that its medium-term objective was to contest and win one-third of the seats in parliament.
Responding to a question on whether that remains the party’s goal in this year's election, Mr Singh said: “The medium-term objective is one-third opposition MPs in parliament and … I’m saying that we will not be able to meet that one-third number of candidates to fill one-third of parliament opposition MPs.”
“The bigger objective is to make sure that we assemble good teams and individuals who can actually work in the interests of Singapore and Singaporeans,” he added.
At the last General Election in 2020, the WP fielded a total of 21 candidates, down from 28 in GE2015.
The party contested GE2020 in Hougang and Punggol West SMCs as well as Sengkang, Aljunied, East Coast and Marine Parade GRCs – all constituencies located in the east or northeast of Singapore.
It increased its margin of support in Hougang SMC and Aljunied GRC, and gained four new seats in parliament with victory in Sengkang GRC.
WP could contest in the newly created Punggol GRC as well as constituencies in longtime stomping ground Tampines, as part of a continued eastern and northeastern push, party insiders and analysts told CNA previously.
This could bring their total number of candidates at this year's polls to 30 - still below the 32 figure to make up a third of parliament seats.
On Thursday, when asked how the WP has refined its candidate recruitment process, Mr Singh said it was “certainly different from the past”.
Earlier this year, he mentioned that the party had engaged "commercial parties" to help with candidate screening and personality reviews.
“But I also want to caveat - any process will always be as good as it is, and it cannot cover all the circumstances and every other issue that may not have been flagged out by that process,” Mr Singh told reporters.
He added that the party’s candidates “represent a broad church” of Singaporeans from all walks of life, and that WP would want to carry views from different segments of society.
Quizzed on whether he feels WP is now able to attract candidates of a more “elite” calibre now than before, Mr Singh said he had “not seen many" such examples.
He added: “I would say their real strength is having the courage and the gumption to walk through that door, and I don't think this is something that is found in very generous quantities in Singapore today.
“(But) we hope to normalise it. We hope to attract more people into the Workers' Party, and this is something we will continue to do.”
Mr Singh was also asked if all four incumbent MPs - Ms Sylvia Lim, Mr Faisal Manap, Mr Gerald Giam and himself - would contest Aljunied GRC, to which he replied that he was not ruling anything out.
“But if there are any changes, it will be very minimal,” he said.
He noted that the ruling People’s Action Party has been “very coy” about its final line-ups, and that there “are no coincidences to that”.
“So let's see what happens in the next few days and anyway, I promise you everything will be clear on Nomination Day.”
The opposition party is set to unveil another slate of potential candidates on Friday.
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This was made known by party chief Pritam Singh on Thursday (Apr 17) at a press conference where the WP unveiled its manifesto and four new candidates.
But he stopped short of specifying the total number of candidates the party was fielding, or which constituencies it was contesting, only saying that these would be announced in good time.
WP had previously said, in 2019, that its medium-term objective was to contest and win one-third of the seats in parliament.
Responding to a question on whether that remains the party’s goal in this year's election, Mr Singh said: “The medium-term objective is one-third opposition MPs in parliament and … I’m saying that we will not be able to meet that one-third number of candidates to fill one-third of parliament opposition MPs.”
“The bigger objective is to make sure that we assemble good teams and individuals who can actually work in the interests of Singapore and Singaporeans,” he added.
At the last General Election in 2020, the WP fielded a total of 21 candidates, down from 28 in GE2015.
The party contested GE2020 in Hougang and Punggol West SMCs as well as Sengkang, Aljunied, East Coast and Marine Parade GRCs – all constituencies located in the east or northeast of Singapore.
It increased its margin of support in Hougang SMC and Aljunied GRC, and gained four new seats in parliament with victory in Sengkang GRC.
WP could contest in the newly created Punggol GRC as well as constituencies in longtime stomping ground Tampines, as part of a continued eastern and northeastern push, party insiders and analysts told CNA previously.
This could bring their total number of candidates at this year's polls to 30 - still below the 32 figure to make up a third of parliament seats.
Related:
On Thursday, when asked how the WP has refined its candidate recruitment process, Mr Singh said it was “certainly different from the past”.
Earlier this year, he mentioned that the party had engaged "commercial parties" to help with candidate screening and personality reviews.
“But I also want to caveat - any process will always be as good as it is, and it cannot cover all the circumstances and every other issue that may not have been flagged out by that process,” Mr Singh told reporters.
He added that the party’s candidates “represent a broad church” of Singaporeans from all walks of life, and that WP would want to carry views from different segments of society.
Quizzed on whether he feels WP is now able to attract candidates of a more “elite” calibre now than before, Mr Singh said he had “not seen many" such examples.
He added: “I would say their real strength is having the courage and the gumption to walk through that door, and I don't think this is something that is found in very generous quantities in Singapore today.
“(But) we hope to normalise it. We hope to attract more people into the Workers' Party, and this is something we will continue to do.”
Mr Singh was also asked if all four incumbent MPs - Ms Sylvia Lim, Mr Faisal Manap, Mr Gerald Giam and himself - would contest Aljunied GRC, to which he replied that he was not ruling anything out.
“But if there are any changes, it will be very minimal,” he said.
He noted that the ruling People’s Action Party has been “very coy” about its final line-ups, and that there “are no coincidences to that”.
“So let's see what happens in the next few days and anyway, I promise you everything will be clear on Nomination Day.”
The opposition party is set to unveil another slate of potential candidates on Friday.
Related:
Continue reading...