Singapore election: eleventh-hour ministerial switches expected as candidates head to nomination centre

SCMP | April 22, 2025, 10:17 p.m. | Original

Supporters of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party at a Nomination Day venue on Wednesday. Photo: Jean Iau

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  • Last minute ministerial switches by the ruling PAP included Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong moving east to Punggol where he will face WP star candidate Harpreet Singh.

  • The PAP will hold onto Marine Parade-Braddell Heights after the first walkover the city state has seen since 2011.

  • Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean confirmed they would retire from politics.

  • A rare four-cornered fight will take place in the Tampines GRC.

Singapore ’s Nomination Day began on Wednesday with some uncertainty, as the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) did not reveal its line-up in expected key battlegrounds, suggesting the possibility of eleventh-hour redeployments among cabinet ministers to shore itself up against its main opponent, the Workers’ Party (WP).

The PAP threw up several surprise moves as nominations began at 11am and ended at noon, with Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong making a switch from the northwest to the northeast new group representation constituency (GRC) of Punggol.

The move will put Gan in a head-to-head contest against the WP’s star candidate, senior counsel Harpreet Singh, who leads the team in the constituency, which borders the party’s stronghold multi-seat constituencies of Sengkang and Aljunied.

While Marine Parade GRC had been touted as a key battleground constituency, in the end, the PAP sailed through with a walkover as the opposition did not field any team.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong arrives at a nomination centre on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong arrives at a nomination centre on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
The city state will hold its 14th general election since independence on May 3, in what analysts say will be a test of public confidence in Lawrence Wong ’s leadership. Wong leads the party as prime minister for the first time since taking office last May.

But the vote is more than a referendum on Wong. It will also be read as a barometer of how well his team of fourth-generation leaders – otherwise known as the 4G – has handled a series of pressing issues such as the rising cost of living, jobs and affordable housing.

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