Singapore opposition fields team to challenge PM Lee

Two Indian-origin men have been included in the opposition party’s six-member group that will challenge Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s team in the general election to be held on September 11.

Lee’s Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (GRC) team will have a straight fight with a team from Reform Party comprising blogger Roy Ngerng and activist lawyer M Ravi along with Osman Sulaiman, Gilbert Goh, <g data-gr-id="18">infocomm</g> trainer Siva Chandran and Jesse Loo as fellow candidates.

Lee’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) team includes Ang Hin Kee, Intan Azura Mokhtar, Gan Thiam Poh, Koh Poh Koon and Darryl David.

A Group Representation Constituency (GRC) is a type of electoral division or constituency in Singapore where the MPs are voted into Parliament as a group. The Government stated that the GRC scheme was primarily implemented to enshrine minority representation in Parliament: at least one of the MPs in a GRC must be a member of the Malay, Indian or another minority community of Singapore.

Nomination for all the 89 members of parliament closed on Tuesday. The PAP, which has governed the prosperous city state for over 50 years, is being challenged by eight political parties and two independent. Lee leads the PAP as its secretary-general in the first ever general election that will see voting across the island for all 89 parliamentary seats.

In the 2011 general election, 82 of 87 seats in parliament were contested.