'On the one hand, we don't want to give any points to the
opposition for nothing. On the other hand, we don't want to take
our own supporters by surprise,' he told reporters on the sidelines
of a community event in his constituency.
'We owe it to our own supporters and especially to the team in
the GRC to know in good time what's going to happen, whom they'll
be working with, and to have the new people able to bond and know
the conditions in the GRC before they are fielded there.
'From that point of view, there's an advantage in letting it be
known early who's coming into that constituency. Where to set the
balance between surprise and preparation, that will vary from GRC
to GRC.'
His comments came as Senior Minister S. Jayakumar, East Coast
GRC's outgoing anchor minister, introduced labour chief Lim Swee
Say to residents there on Sunday morning.
Professor Jayakumar and Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi,
who have been MPs there since 1980 and 1984 respectively, announced
last Thursday that they will not contest the next election.
