SINGAPORE: With an eye on the next General Election
(GE), the Workers' Party's (WP) top leadership made a strategic
decision late Thursday night to select a younger member for its
second Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP)
seat.
Unfortunately, the move prompted veteran central
executive committee member and party treasurer Eric Tan to
quit.
In an exclusive interview with Today late Thursday
night, as he drafted a statement for the media, he said: "I feel
betrayed."
The WP is expected to officially announce on Friday which of its
candidates will be accepting the NCMP seats.
The WP is entitled to two NCMP seats - one for 46-year-old Yee Jenn
Jong, who lost narrowly in the single-seat of Joo Chiat and the
other for one of the five members of its East Coast Group
Representation Constituency (GRC) team.
The Thursday night meeting at Hougang Town Council saw the WP's
central executive committee vote to hand the second NCMP seat to
the party's assistant webmaster, 34-year-old Gerald Giam.
This was the first election the IT consultant, who joined WP in
2009, has contested.
He was part of the team in East Coast GRC which was led by
55-year-old Mr Tan.
Mr Tan, a former banker who is now a private equity fund manager,
said: "I am disappointed that Low (Thia Khiang) and part of the CEC
have decided to go against the people's wishes, citing party
renewal as their reason.
"I too, also believe in the renewal of the party but in an orderly
manner, with succession plans.
"But not like this, dropped like a bomb."
Mr Tan added: "I have helped build the East Coast team since 2005
and was the only one remaining after the 2006 election. I fought on
and rebuilt the team, helping to gain a solid result for the
party," he said.
"I wanted the NCMP post so that I would be able to be the voice of
the people." said Mr Tan, who is also the chairman of the party's
Eastern Area Committee.
The 45.17 per cent polled by the WP in East Coast GRC has led many
to speculate that the WP has set its sight on making the
constituency its next major battleground in five years' time.
Mr Tan is also understood to have played a role in attracting
corporate lawyer Chen Show Mao and Mr Yee to join the party. It is
not known if the opposition party might reconsider its decision on
Friday.
- TODAY/wk
