WP’s Lee wins Punggol East by—election

SINGAPORE: Ms Lee Li Lian of the Workers’ Party (WP) has won the Punggol East by—election.

Returning Officer Mr Yam Ah Mee announced the results at about 11pm on Saturday.

Ms Lee won 16,038 or 54.52 per cent of the valid votes, while Dr Koh Poh Koon of the People’s Action Party received 12,856 or 43.71 per cent of the votes.

At a news conference following the announcement of the by—election results, chairman of WP Ms Sylvia Lim said the party’s message to the voters was to get the government to pay more attention to them.

She also said the party is very encouraged by the results, taking it as a sign to have WP in Parliament and that they endorse the party’s brand of politics.

Ms Lee said she knows that there is a lot of work to be done and will make sure there is a smooth handover and wants to build a strong community in Punggol East.

She also added that most immediate task is to build up the town council and increase the number of grassroot leaders in Punggol East.

She also shared that her Meet—the—People session will start on 4 February at Block 135 Rivervale Street.

WP’s secretary—general Mr Low Thia Khiang said the results show that people still want the government to work harder. He said people still feel pressure from the high cost of living.

Reform Party’s Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam took 353 or 1.20 per cent of the votes and Singapore Democratic Alliance’s Mr Desmond Lim had 168 or 0.57 of the votes.

Both Mr Jeyaretnam and Mr Lim will lose their S$14,500 election deposit as they have garnered less than 12.5 per cent of the votes cast.

Total number of votes cast was 29,832, with 417 rejected votes.

This was 94.26 per cent of the 31,649 registered electors in the Single Member Constituency.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Ms Lee and the Workers’ Party for winning the by—election.

"I respect the choice of Punggol East voters," he said in a statement.

Mr Lee said the PAP will continue to work to improve the lives of Singaporeans, and present its report card for voters to judge in the next general election.

He added that he intends to field Dr Koh again in a future election, so that he can be part of the PAP’s team to serve Singapore.

RP’s Mr Jeyaretnam also congratulated the Workers’ Party, saying that the by—election was mainly fought on local issues.

He said that irrespective of the results, the party "has taken the first step in mending the broken promise of all, which is the promise to build a democratic society."

— CNA/al/ck