SDP will not contest Punggol East by-election

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) will not contest the Punggol East by-election on January 26. 

It announced this at a media conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Party chief Dr Chee Soon Juan said the SDP listened to the ground - that the people didn't want a multi-cornered fight that would dilute the votes for the opposition.

He said the people's voice is important and the party is "paying heed" to it.

In a surprising twist of events, a majority of its central executive committee members voted against contesting. 

This ended days of speculation that the party was keen to either field 42-year-old lecturer Dr Vincent Wijeysingha or 47-year-old Dr Paul Tambyah. 

On Monday night, Dr Chee said the party was set to announce its candidate today. 

He had said the party had decided who it would field after a two-and-a-half meeting with CEC members. 

However, this eventually did not materialise.