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PM Lawrence Wong to lead PAP team in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC for GE2025
Introduction of (from left) Mayor Alex Yam, Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Ms Hany Soh, as the team representing PAP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC at PAP Limbang branch on April 12.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will once again lead the People’s Action Party team in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC in the coming election, in his first trip to the polls as PM.
He will be accompanied by the same slate of incumbents, namely Senior Minister of State for Defence and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad; North West District Mayor Alex Yam and Ms Hany Soh.
PM Wong, 52, announced the make-up of the team in place to defend his home turf in a press conference at PAP’s Limbang branch in Chua Chu Kang on April 12.
This is the first of the PAP’s official full slate introductions ahead of the 2025 general election.
PM Wong said: “We have now finalised our candidates for the coming general election, and starting today, we will introduce them constituency by constituency.”
“For Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, we are fielding the same team,” said PM Wong, adding that he will continue to anchor the four-member GRC team.
He said voters can expect to see new candidates for the PAP, which will field more than 30 new candidates - the largest slate of new faces the party has introduced in recent history.
“The team in Marsiling-Yew Tee has not changed, but there will be more significant changes elsewhere,” said PM Wong, who is also the secretary-general of the PAP.
The line-up for each constituency is only set in stone on Nomination Day, when parties reveal the final slate of candidates.
In the 2020 general election, Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC’s slate - first unveiled at a walkabout in Marsiling a month before the polls - remained the same.
Last weekend, the constituency’s five-year masterplan was shared with residents, who can expect a slew of amenities in the coming years, such as new or revamped community clubs, new parks and more sustainable features in their neighbourhoods.
Other major upcoming projects in the precinct also include the redevelopment of Kranji racecourse and Woodlands Checkpoint.
Mr Wong, who was sworn in as Singapore’s fourth Prime Minister in May 2024, noted how this is his first general election as PM, secretary-general of the PAP, and “with a refreshed PAP team”.
Asked why he chose to stay in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC given the sharper electoral contest in some other constituencies, PM Wong said it does not matter where he stands.
Regardless of constituency, he will lead the party into the elections, he said.
He added: “I will present the case to Singaporeans and I hope Singaporeans will give me and my team to do our best for them in these difficult times.”
This is the first time Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC will be led by a sitting Prime Minister. It is among nine constituencies that have not had their boundaries redrawn for the 2025 polls.
This is only the third contest for the relatively young constituency, which was formed in 2015 after being carved out of parts of Chua Chu Kang GRC and Sembawang GRC that had seen significant population growth.
In 2020, the PAP retained the GRC with 63.18 per cent of the votes against the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), above the ruling party’s national average of 61.24 per cent.
The SDP, who has announced that it will return to contest the GRC, is expected to announce its lineup soon, with SDP chief Chee Soon Juan saying previously that he would put up “a good slate” for the election that includes both “gung-ho” new faces and veterans.
When asked if he had a target vote share for GE 2025, PM Wong said: “I don’t come in with an expectation of a target or a particular figure in terms of what we might get in vote share for the party or the GRC.”
“I go in with the view that it’s a hotly-contested election nationally and in every constituency, including mine, and all I will do is my best as party leader, as anchor for the GRC, and I expect the rest of my team to do the same.”
