SINGAPORE, July 11 — The People’s Action Party (PAP) held on to West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) by a slim margin after a tough fight from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), winning 51.69 per cent of the vote in the General Election.

The PAP team was headed by S. Iswaran, 58, and Desmond Lee, 43. Iswaran was the Minister for Communications and Information, while Lee, PAP’s organising secretary, was the Minister for Social and Family Development before Parliament was dissolved on June 23. 

Others in the PAP team were two-term Members of Parliament Foo Mee Har, 54, and Ang Wei Neng, 53, and political newcomer Rachel Ong Sin Yen, 47. 

Lee and Ang had been redeployed to West Coast GRC from Jurong GRC for this election.

Over at the PSP team is party chief Tan Cheng Bock, 80, who led Leong Mun Wai, 60, Hazel Poa, 50, Nadarajah Loganathan, 57 and Jeffrey Khoo, 51.

‘Very close contest’

Speaking on behalf of the winning team after the results were announced, Iswaran admitted that it was a "very close contest” and he was grateful that the majority of the voters in the constituency had placed their trust in PAP.

"In turn, we will live up to that trust and honour the commitments we have made and ensure that we work to improve their lives and livelihoods, as we have stated throughout our campaign,” he told reporters outside PAP’s West Coast branch.

Commenting on the slim margin by which his team won, Iswaran said that he was "neither surprised nor disappointed”.

"We took it as a contest, and in every contest you must be prepared for any kind of outcome,” he said. "But of course, we were always fighting to win.”

Iswaran said that it is still too early to pinpoint the underlying unhappiness of some voters, but it is likely that the economy and jobs are overriding concerns for people in general.

It would require some time to further analyse and figure out what may have influenced the constituents in West Coast GRC not to vote for PAP, he added.

The team’s immediate objective is to organise the town council, which also manages Pioneer Single Member Constituency, and plan for the programmes that they have talked about during the election campaign.

Iswaran also said that his opponents from PSP put up a "vigorous contest” and presented a choice to the voters of West Coast GRC on the issues that mattered to them.

‘Take this little failure as part of life’

Over at PSP’s headquarters, Dr Tan told reporters that while the party did not win any of the eight constituencies in which they had contested, it had "performed very well”.

"I would like to say that we would continue to work in areas that we stood, so at this juncture, I would just like to tell my candidates here not to be disheartened but to take this little failure as part of life and carry on working hard at the constituencies,” he said. 

On PSP’s performance at West Coast GRC, Dr Tan said that he was very proud that the team had given PAP a "good fight”. 

"I think (PAP) over-concentrated on the West Coast and we distracted them. Honestly, you ask yourself if it's a good mandate (and) it is not a good mandate. 

I don't think the prime minister will be very happy about all this. Across the board, (PAP’s share of the votes) has dropped.”

On the plans for the party moving forward, Dr Tan hopes to bring onboard younger people "because the future is theirs”. 

"This election is a good experience for many current leaders of PSP to pass information to younger members of the team. Many young members joined us, (and I) hope to inspire them to join the next round.” — TODAY