GE2025: 92 out of 97 seats to be contested on May 3, walkover in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC

Straits Times

23-04-2025

GE2025: 92 out of 97 seats to be contested on May 3, walkover in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC
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SINGAPORE – Singapore will see 92 out of 97 seats contested in the May 3 general election, following several surprises on Nomination Day, including the first walkover since 2011.
A five-member PAP team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, where the WP was expected to field a team, was elected unopposed when nomination proceedings ended at noon.
Other unexpected developments on April 23 included the last-minute redeployment of several heavyweight ministers – among them Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong to the four-member Punggol GRC – and the long-awaited confirmation of the WP's line-up.
Senior counsel Harpreet Singh Nehal was confirmed as part of WP's Punggol GRC team, setting the stage for what looks to be one of the fiercest electoral battlegrounds this year.
Two PAP stalwarts – Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat – did not appear on any nomination forms and have retired from politics.
A total of 211 candidates filed their papers on Nomination Day. The PAP was the only party to field candidates for all 97 seats in 33 constituencies. Its largest opponent, the WP, is fighting for 26 seats across eight constituencies.
The PSP, which contested the largest number of seats of any opposition party in 2020, is fielding a scaled-back contingent of 13 candidates in six constituencies.
Prospective candidates and their supporters began gathering at the nine nomination centres on the morning of April 23. The exception was Kong Hwa School, where fewer than 10 WP supporters showed up.
As the clock ticked towards the noon deadline, it became clear that the PAP team for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC would be elected unopposed.
It is the first time any constituency has seen a walkover since 2011, when Tanjong Pagar GRC went uncontested after a team of independents submitted their nomination papers late.
This year, multi-cornered fights will take place in five-member Ang Mo Kio, Sembawang and Tampines GRCs, as well as the single seats of Potong Pasir and Radin Mas.
Tampines is the most hotly-contested of the five, with three opposition parties – the WP, National Solidarity Party and People's Power Party (PPP) – set to go up against a PAP team led by Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli.
In Ang Mo Kio, the PPP team will face up against opponents from the PAP and Singapore United Party, while voters in Sembawang will see the PAP, NSP and Singapore Democratic Party on their ballot papers,
Those in Potong Pasir will choose between the ruling party, the People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) and the Singapore People's Party. Finally, the PAP and PAR will both be contesting Radin Mas, along with 28-year-old Darryl Lo, an independent candidate.
The single seat of Mountbatten will be the only one to see a contest between two new faces – the PAP's Gho Sze Kee and independent candidate Jeremy Tan.
In 2020, the PAP won 61.23 per cent of the popular vote, and was returned to power with 83 out of 93 seats. However, it lost a second GRC - Sengkang - to the WP.
That year, the WP won 10 seats in Aljunied, Sengkang and Hougang. The PSP narrowly lost West Coast to the PAP, and two of its candidates – Mr Leong Mun Wai and Ms Hazel Poa – were subsequently installed as Non-Constituency MPs.
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