The first sample count of the votes from Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) for the 2020 General Elections (GE) predicts that the nation’s ruling party, the People’s Action Party, will bag the constituency. The count revealed that the PAP bagged 63% of votes, while opposition party Progress Singapore Party (PSP) bagged 37%.
Singapore’s ruling party, the People’s Action Party (PAP), went head to head with an opposition party, Progress Singapore Party (PSP) in this year’s GE.
Leading the PAP team was Chan Chun Sing and Indranee Rajah. Completing the ruling party group were Joan Pereira, Alvin Tan, and Eric Chua. On the opposite side of the ring was a PSP team comprised of Wendy Low, Terence Soon, Abas Kasmani, Michael Chua, and Harish Pillay.
The battle between the two parties was not without issues, as both had complaints about one another. According to a recent article by Today Online, both parties had raised issues with each other’s nomination papers on Nomination Day (June 30). However, while the PAP argued that the PSP had failed to fill-out the constituency, no amendments could be made as no objections were raised upon the official acceptance of the PSP’s papers.
On the other hand, the PSP also found an issue with the PAP’s papers, as Mr Eric Chua had written “retired SCDF (Singapore Civil Defence Force) officer” under his occupation. The party argued that it was not an occupation.
However, wanting a fair fight, neither of the parties formally disputed the other’s election papers. “We would want to be returned because our voters have said that they have given us the right and the privilege to return,” said the PAP’s Indranee Rajah.
On the other hand, PSP’s Michael Chua said, “In the spirit of competition, we really want to give Singapore and Tanjong Pagar a choice of two very good teams and for them to cast their vote for the future. It is not about paper, as in very minor technicalities.”
Hence, the battle pushed on in Tanjong Pagar GRC.
In response to the news, there has been a mixed response among netizens. While PAP supporters rejoice, others find the PAP win “deeply saddening.”
In the 2015 General Elections, the PAP won the constituency, bagging 77.7 per cent of votes in the GRC against a team from Singaporeans First–which is now dissolved.
Formed in 1991, Tanjong Pagar was also managed by Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, until 2015, when he died. In the 2020 General Elections, there were no changes made to its electoral boundaries. /TISG