Independent observer Felix Tan, who has written about Singapore’s political landscape, said that it also represents a shift in how the PAP fields its candidates.
“Instead of bringing in people whom they think can win, such as those with impressive CVs and qualifications, they rather suss out the ground to see who are the ones that are actually in touch and can connect with residents,” he said.
He added that figuring out its strategy in opposition-held wards is ultimately quite a new challenge for the PAP.
“After all, it is a relatively recent development, just three GEs ago that they lost the first GRC,” he noted.
He said that PAP candidates in opposition-held wards have been shifted to run in other constituencies in subsequent elections, after gaining sufficient political experience.
For instance, current Senior Minister of State for Manpower and for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon contested and lost the 2013 by-election in Punggol East. Tampines GRC MP Desmond Choo had also stood unsuccessfully in Hougang for the 2011 General Election and the 2012 by-election.
“If they win, they become the MP. If they don’t, they would have gained the experience of running a branch and could be shifted out of the constituency in a later election,” explained Dr Tan.
Assoc Prof Tan said that the changes in personnel could also be part of a long-term strategy by the ruling party to dedicate its activists on the ground in those areas, looking ahead to future electoral contests.
“It’s the same as what the WP does in the east. They also play the long game. And for these teams, one day the conditions may just be right,” he said.
FIRST GRC WON BY OPPOSITION
Aljunied GRC was first won by the WP in the 2011 election, defeating a PAP team which included Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo and newcomer Ong Ye Kung, who is currently Minister for Health.
It had secured 54.72 per cent of the votes, becoming the first opposition party to win a GRC since the implementation of the system in 1988.
The team was led by then-WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang, who left his long-time stronghold of Hougang to contest the GRC. It included current Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, party chairman Sylvia Lim, Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap and newcomer Chen Show Mao.
The WP then retained Aljunied GRC in the 2015 electoral contest, with 50.95 per cent of the votes. Given the close outcome, the PAP team applied for a recount, but was eventually still edged out.
The PAP team had comprised veteran four-term MP Yeo Guat Kwang, and four new faces, including current Kaki Bukit branch chairman Mr Shamsul Kamar.
In the last General Election in 2020, Mr Singh led his party to victory in the constituency again, in his first electoral outing after taking over the reins from Mr Low in 2018.
