GE2025: Three-way fight for Potong Pasir; PAP newcomer to defend Mountbatten (2025)

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SINGAPORE – Lawyer Alex Yeo, who is contesting his second election, will face a three-way fight to retain Potong Pasir SMC for the PAP.

On April 23, Mr Yeo and his challengers – Singapore People’s Party (SPP) treasurer Williiamson Lee and People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR) secretary-general Lim Tean – showed up at Kong Hwa School to formally register for the polls.

The school, which is one of nine nomination centres for the general election, also saw candidates filing papers to contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, Jalan Besar GRC and Mountbatten SMC.

In the first walkover in a general election since 2011, the PAP team contesting Marine Parade-Braddell Heights won five seats in Singapore’s 15th Parliament, after the WP did not show up at the centre despite contesting Marine Parade GRC in 2015 and 2020.

Jalan Besar GRC will see a straight fight between the PAP and the PAR for the constituency’s four seats, while maritime lawyer Gho Sze Kee will defend the PAP’s seat in Mountbatten against independent candidate Jeremy Tan.

In Potong Pasir, Mr Yeo, 46, replaces three-term MP Sitoh Yih Pin, who had held the seat from 2011.

Mr Yeo entered politics in 2020, when he was fielded in Aljunied GRC as part of a PAP slate that lost with 40.05 per cent of the vote against the WP’s 59.95 per cent.

He said he is not focused on his odds of winning, but on the PAP’s plans for Potong Pasir.

“I think it is important for any representative coming to Potong Pasir that we have to blend our rich heritage of the past together with the dreams and aspirations of our residents in the future,” he said.

The SPP’s Mr Lee, 45, said he will try his best for the rest of the campaign, and noted that Potong Pasir is a place closely affiliated with his party.

Former SPP leader Chiam See Tong held the Potong Pasir seat for 27 years beforeleaving to contest a GRC in 2011. Mr Sitoh won it that year.

“I will try to reach out to every resident,” Mr Lee said when asked about his campaign plans over the next nine days.

The PAR’s Mr Lim, 60, told reporters before entering Kong Hwa School: “The whole of Singapore is like an orchard with fruit trees, bearing very sweet fruit for the opposition this year, so we are very confident. And on the other hand, I think the ground is not so sweet for the PAP.”

On the multi-cornered fight, Mr Lim said: “I ask people not to worry about so-called splitting of opposition votes and all of that. It will not happen.

“We have seen from past history that even when there have been three-cornered, four-cornered fights... opposition supporters and those supporters who do not want the PAP gravitate towards the strongest candidate, because people all want to back a winner, don’t they?”

Ms Gho will contest her first election for the PAP against Mr Tan, 34, the independent candidate.

Ms Gho, a party activist since 2012, takes over from four-term MP Lim Biow Chuan, who had overseen the Mountbatten area from 2006.

The 46-year-old, who has understudied Mr Lim for about 10 months, told reporters: “I am not a seasonal politician. I have been on the ground for 13 years, pounding the ground, walking the ground, understanding residents’ needs and advocating for them.

“That is why I hope I will be given a chance.”

During a house visit in Dakota Breeze after Nomination Day proceedings ended, Ms Gho told The Straits Times that she was surprised the PAR did not field a candidate in Mountbatten, even though its secretary-general, Mr Lim Tean, announced on April 18 that it would do so.

“I was a bit surprised. But nevertheless, there is an election ongoing right now, so let’s continue our canvassing of votes and fighting to win the hearts and minds of our residents.”

Ms Gho said she spoke to Mr Tan, her opponent in the election, at the nomination centre.

“I do think that he is a worthy opponent, and it is a contestation of ideas. So, all are welcome.”

Mr Tan, a retired entrepreneur, said Singapore “should not have a system of Parliament where we lack diverse voices”.

He said he has spent time getting to know the concerns of Mountbatten residents. Even if he loses to Ms Gho in the election, he will “work with her to see how we can make the lives of Mountbatten residents better”.

“I plan to personally walk to every household in Mountbatten to give out my fliers and also to speak to the residents,” he added.

• Additional reporting by Akshita Nanda, Benson Ang, Esther Loi, Gabrielle Chan and Judith Tan.

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