THE number of Malay candidates the People's Action Party is
fielding in the coming election will only be known on nomination
day, Mr Lim Boon Heng said on Monday.
He said that he knew of only two incumbent Malay MPs who are
retiring, so if two new Malay faces are fielded, there would be 'no
reduction in the number of Malay candidates'.
Mr Lim, who is PAP chairman, was speaking to reporters after
introducing three new PAP candidates, one of whom was Mr Zainal
Sarpari, a former school principal.
Mr Lim was asked if the PAP would be fielding only two Malay
candidates this year, as opposed to four in the 2006 General
Election.
The other Malay candidate is expected to be National Institute
of Education lecturer Intan Azura Mokhtar, who was among Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong's entourage in Ang Mo Kio on Sunday.
Mr Lim said in his reply: 'As far as I know, only two Malay MPs
have indicated that they are stepping down, Dr Ahmad Magad and Mr
Abdullah Tarmugi. So if, as you say, we have two (new Malay faces),
there would be no reduction in the number of Malay candidates.'
Mr Abdullah is Speaker of Parliament and an MP for East Coast
GRC, while Dr Ahmad is an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
Mr Lim, however, hastened to add: 'I'm not going to preclude how
many candidates or what race we're going to have. You will know at
the end of it all.' There are currently 12 Malay PAP MPs in
Parliament.