Opposition parties upset that WP pulled out of Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC
SINGAPORE – Several opposition parties have expressed displeasure with WP for not contesting Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC leading to an unexpected walkover, the first at a general election since 2011.
WP was expected to field a team in this constituency, as it had contested Marine Parade GRC in 2020 and won 42.26 per cent of the vote.
Hours after a five-member PAP team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC won unopposed on April 23, some opposition parties took to social media or spoke to media outlets to voice their opinions.
Mr Goh Meng Seng, secretary-general of People's Power Party (PPP) , said in a Facebook post : 'WP was the last minute spoiler party, (who was) willing to sacrifice 130,000 voters' rights in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights, just to get into a four-cornered fight!'
This four-cornered fight will take place in Tampines GRC, where the WP, PPP and National Solidarity Party (NSP) will go up against the incumbent PAP team led by Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli.
Mr Goh, 55 , was responding to a reporter's claim that PPP's Tampines team was short of assentors up till the night before Nomination Day on April 23.
He added that PPP's candidates' and assentors' names were 'properly printed' on its nomination papers, and claimed that WP had the 'least number of assentors among all contesting parties', in addition to having written the names and particulars of its candidates by hand.
Similarly, PPP's chairman Derrick Sim said he could not believe that WP had pulled out from Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, adding that his team was 'dumbfounded'.
In a Facebook post on April 23, Mr Sim, 44 , noted that WP had never contested in Tampines since the party was formed in 1988, while it had consistently contested and walked the ground in Marine Parade for over a decade.
Adding that WP's 'star candidate' Harpreet Singh was frequently spotted in Marine Parade, Mr Sim said: 'And now, WP totally abandoned all that ground effort to parachute into Tampines – a GRC where multiple teams had already confirmed their intentions early on, and even made public statements.'
''Strategic move'? Sorry, but that's a lame excuse. Letting in five seats even before the contest starts,' he said.
Besides these candidates from PPP, the secretary-general of the Singapore People's Party (SPP) Steve Chia also issued a media response on the issue on April 23.
Mr Chia, 54 , said SPP was 'indeed surprised' by WP's decision to not contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, especially given WP's active ground engagement in the constituency since the election in 2020.
He added: 'This walkover, the first since 2011, marks an unexpected turn in what was anticipated to be a keenly contested race.'
'We share the disappointment felt by many residents who were looking forward to a robust democratic process with diverse voices and choices at the ballot box.'
Noting that SPP believes that every constituency benefits from active competition since it fosters greater accountability, Mr Chia said his party respects strategic choices made by other parties but regrets that voters in the constituency would not have the chance to express their preferences through the polls.
Speaking to the media regarding PSP's candidacy in West Coast-Jurong West GRC on April 23, PSP chief Leong Mun Wai also commented that the party found it 'slightly disappointing' that there was a walkover in a group representation constituency during GE2025.
'PSP believes that we should give Singaporeans a chance to experience the democratic process, we should not have (a) walkover, so that is a bit disappointing, but I suppose there are valid reasons why that happened,' he said.
Before comments from these opposition parties streamed in, WP chief Pritam Singh shared on Facebook that not contesting Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC was 'a very difficult decision' for the party.
He published the post 15 minutes after nomination proceedings ended at 12.30pm on April 23.
Thanking residents in the constituency for their support, Mr Singh noted that Joo Chiat SMC was drawn out of Marine Parade GRC into East Coast GRC, while MacPherson SMC and other estates were pulled into the new Marine-Parade Braddell-Heights GRC by the Electoral Boundary Review Committee.
'It is with a heavy heart I share that The Workers' Party will not stand in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC for these general elections,' he added.
'As a small opposition party, we are constantly faced with difficult choices about where and how best to deploy our limited resources, particularly after electoral boundaries are redrawn.'
'After much reflection and careful consideration, we have determined that in order to continue fighting for the principles and changes we all believe in, and to give our candidates the best chance of electoral success, the Party must focus its best efforts this GE on a smaller number of constituencies than we would have hoped to contest.'
More on this Topic PAP retains Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC as WP pulls out; first walkover since 2011
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