West to East, East to West: PAP fields Gan Kim Yong at Punggol GRC and Tan See Leng at CCK GRC

SINGAPORE: In a surprise move the People’s Action Party (PAP) pulled off on Nomination Day, Ministers Gan Kim Yong and Tan See Leng have been moved from the constituencies they fronted in the last term of Parliament.

Dr Tan, who was expected to contest Marine Parade GRC, arrived at the nomination centre for Chua Chu Kang GRC, Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC and Bukit Gombak SMC in a motorcade.

Reporters on the ground were expecting to see Chua Chu Kang GRC incumbent Gan Kim Yong at the nomination centre, but the Deputy Prime Minister was spotted instead at the Yusof Ishak Secondary School nomination centre for Punggol and East Coast GRCs.

Mr Gan was later confirmed as part of the PAP’s slate for Punggol GRC, alongside Janil Puthucheary, Sun Xueling and Yeo Wan Ling. His team will go up against a Workers’ Party (WP) team comprising four new faces: Harpreet Singh Nehal SC, Alia Mattar, Alexis Dang, and Jackson Au.

Dr Tan has been confirmed as the anchor minister for Chua Chu Kang GRC, leading a team comprising Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, Jeffrey Siow and Choo Pei Ling. He will face off against a Progress Singapore Party (PSP) team featuring A’bas Kasmani, Wendy Low, S Nallakaruppan and Lawrence Pek.

Observers remain curious as to whether the eastward shift for Mr Gan and the westward shift for Dr Tan will pay off. Dr Tan was widely recognised as former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s replacement in Marine Parade GRC when he entered politics during the last election.

Mr Gan, meanwhile, had been the incumbent at Choa Chu Kang for close to 20 years, since 2006.