PAP Keeps the Opposition Guessing with Last-Minute Deployments on Nomination Day

It was yet another deputy prime minister surprise switch when DPM Gan Kim Yong appeared at Yusof Ishak Secondary School at about 11.20am.

- Goh Yan Han

It signaled his potential filling of the vacant anchor minister slot in the newly formed Punggol GRC, one of the hottest constituencies of this general election.

Back in 2020, DPM Heng Swee Keat was the one pulling off the surprise, when he was a Nomination Day switch from Tampines GRC to East Coast GRC.

Those watching the PAP's candidate deployments closely over the past few months would have already raised an eyebrow at how many times new faces were switched from constituency to constituency, sometimes from the west to the east.

These changes continued right up to the last hour on Nomination Day itself on April 23, with fully fledged ministers moving in a calculated fashion.

Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, who had appeared at 9.30am where the Marine Parade-Braddell Heights (MPBH) team was meeting, later emerged at Jurong Pioneer Junior College, the nomination centre for Chua Chu Kang (CCK) GRC.

Both Dr Tan and DPM Gan had been announced last week as returnees to the constituencies they had contested in 2020—MPBH (renamed from Marine Parade GRC) for Dr Tan and CCK for DPM Gan.

New face and former SAF brigadier-general Goh Pei Ming, who had been missing all morning, ended up as the missing name for the MPBH slate.

Through all the smoke and mirrors, the PAP kept everyone—residents and opposition—guessing right up to the last minute.

It had already pulled off some surprise moves before Nomination Day, by switching Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Indranee Rajah from Tanjong Pagar GRC to helm Pasir Ris-Changi GRC, and completely overhauling the Nee Soon GRC team, with Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam leading a team of four rookies.

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