Number of Malay PAP candidates not finalised
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 yesterday.
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.
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 yesterday.
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.
