Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday announced that he will call for a by-election in Bukit Batok single member constituency soon. The Member of Parliament for that constituency, David Ong, resigned due to an extra-marital affair with his grassroots leader.
Soon after the announcement, Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) secretary-general, Dr Chee Soon Juan, confirmed that his Party will contest in the soon-to-be-called election for that constituency.
“We will continue to push for the alternative policies that we advocated during the last GE and we look forward to be the people’s voice in Parliament,” Dr Chee said.
A day after confirming that they would contest in the coming by-election, SDP hit the ground running, meeting and greeting the voters of Bukit Batok today morning.
Dr Chee Soon Juan #BBSMCByElection
[Admin]: Dr Chee: "We need to have an alternative voice in Parliament to make sure that we hold the government transparent and accountable."#BBSMCByElection
Posted by Chee Soon Juan on Saturday, March 12, 2016
Dr Chee said that the Party has not decided who to field as its candidate in the coming election, but that there is a possibility that Dr Chee himself will be a candidate.
Dr Chee addressing the media at Bukit Batok West Ave 6 (13 Mar…
SDP Secretary-General Dr Chee Soon Juan addressing the media before the walkabout at Bukit Batok West Avenue 6.
Posted by Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on Saturday, March 12, 2016
In the 2015 General Election SDP fielded 62 year old Sadasivam Veriyah, a businessman, as its candidate in Bukit Batok constituency. Mr Sadasivam garnered 26.4 percent of the votes cast.
An independent candidate who contested in the same constituency last year, Samir Salim Neji (45), lost his election deposit. In a constituency with 27,077 voters, only 150 cast their votes for Mr Samir.