SINGAPORE – Labour chief Ng Chee Meng is likely to run for the next general election, but in constituencies such as Jurong GRC or Ang Mo Kio GRC, said political observers.
They added that he will probably not return to Sengkang GRC, where a four-man People’s Action Party team led by Mr Ng lost to the Workers’ Party during the 2020 General Election with 47.88 per cent of the votes.
Speculation on Mr Ng making a comeback during the next general election intensified when he made an appearance at a Hari Raya Aidilfitri event organised by the FairPrice Group in Bukit Batok on April 21. Bukit Batok’s sitting MP, Mr Murali Pillai from the PAP, was also at the event.
However, Mr Ng told reporters on April 25 that people should not “read too much” into the event, and that such appearances are part of NTUC’s regular groundwork.
A Cabinet minister has traditionally held the post of NTUC secretary-general. The practice began with Mr Lim Chee Onn, who was the first labour chief to be appointed minister in the Prime Minister’s Office in 1980.
Mr Ng – who has been NTUC secretary-general since 2018 – is the first labour chief in decades who is not also a sitting MP.
“Despite not being a current PAP MP, his continuing as NTUC secretary-general in the past four years indicates that the ruling party leadership has significant plans for him should he be elected,” said Singapore Management University associate professor of law Eugene Tan.
“The symbiotic relationship between the PAP and NTUC makes it imperative for Mr Ng to be elected if he is to continue as the labour chief.”
Prof Tan added: “There are options for the PAP as to where he could be fielded, but it is unlikely he will be fielded in an SMC and even more unlikely to be fielded again in Sengkang GRC.”
Observers suggested that Mr Ng is likely to be fielded in a PAP stronghold instead.
Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, said that as Mr Ng is seen as being a member of the 4G team, there is a high likelihood that he may be fielded in one of the safer GRCs for the coming election.
With Mr Ng being spotted in Bukit Batok, one possibility is that he may lead the Jurong GRC team, which is without an anchor minister after Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam stepped down in June 2023 to contest, and subsequently win, the presidential election.
While they are separate constituencies, both Bukit Batok and the five-member Jurong GRC come under Jurong-Clementi Town Council, together with the single seat of Yuhua.
In the 2020 General Election, a PAP team led by Mr Tharman secured almost 75 per cent of the vote in Jurong GRC – the highest of any electoral constituency.
In contrast, in Bukit Batok SMC, Mr Murali scraped a win with 54.8 per cent of the votes.
Based on the 2020 General Election results, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, Ang Mo Kio GRC and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC are also relatively safe seats for the PAP, noted Prof Tan.
The PAP secured 64.16 per cent of the vote in Pasir Ris-Punggol, 67.23 per cent in Bishan-Toa Payoh, and 71.91 per cent in Ang Mo Kio, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is anchor minister.
Prof Tan added: “Mr Ng was an MP in Pasir Ris-Punggol between 2015 and 2020, so he would still be fairly familiar to voters there. He could also be regarded as the possible successor to PM Lee in Ang Mo Kio GRC… (otherwise he could be) portrayed as the new anchor in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC should Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen not contest or relinquish his anchor role.”
