Bukit Batok PAP candidate: Tharman says 'We've got someone'

'Candidate will be someone who is known to the residents, who works very hard and is sincere at heart'

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Singapore's Finance Minister  and deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Singapore's Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam (R) and U.S. Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 22, 2016. Reuters

The People's Action Party (PAP) will announce its candidate for the Bukit Batok by-election on Monday, completing the poll scene after the DSP confirmed its leader Chee Soon Juan will be in the fray.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said the party has finalized its candidate for the crucial by-elation.

"We got someone whom we are very confident of," the deputy prime minister said, TODAY reported.

David Ong, who resigned as Bukit Batok MP after his extra marital affair had come out in the open, had won the seat with an overwhelming majority in the previous election.

The PAP candidate, who is all but certain to win the election given the power equations in the constituency, has remained under wraps.

Tharman, who said an announcement will be made quite soon, gave no hint about the candidate but said it will be "someone who is known to the residents, who works very hard and is sincere at heart."

"We will be announcing our candidate very soon, and we are confident we have someone who is known to residents, who works very hard, and is sincere at heart," Tharman said on Sunday.

Earlier last week, the deputy prime minister had said the party was looking for a "very strong candidates" in Bukit Batok.

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Chee Soon Juan confirmed on Saturday he will fight by-election in Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader Benjamin Pwee has confirmed he will be contesting in the election for the Bukit Batok seat.

Independent candidate Samir Salim Neji, who got a measly 0.6% votes in the constituency in the last general election, has also said he will be in the fray this time as well.

However, the Workers' Party (WP) has said it will not field a candidate in the Bukit Batok by-election.

The Singaporeans First party also clarified they will not have a candidate in the upcoming election.

Bukit Batok MP and People's Action Party (PAP) leader David Ong resigned last week after details of his extramarital affair with a fellow PAP member emerged in public. The disgraced MP also quit the ruling PAP.

This article was first published on March 21, 2016
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