2013 Punggol East by-election
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A parliamentary by-election was held in the Punggol East Single Member Constituency in Singapore on 26 January 2013. It was held to replace the vacant seat after incumbent MP and Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer resigned from the People's Action Party (PAP) following revelations of his extramarital affair. This marked the 16th by-election since Singapore's first election in 1948 and came just months after the 2012 Hougang by-election, occurring under similar circumstances but involving a different MP from the Workers' Party (WP).[1]
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26 January 2013
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| Registered | 31,649 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 29,859 (94.34%) 0.94% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On nomination day, two candidates who previously contested in the 2011 elections, WP Lee Li Lian and Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA)'s Desmond Lim returned. The PAP fielded its political debutant Koh Poh Koon, who joined PAP months prior to the by-election. The Reform Party (RP)'s leader Kenneth Jeyaretnam also successfully nominated, resulting in an elusive four-cornered contest, which last occurred during the 1997 elections, where a four-way fight unfolded at Chua Chu Kang SMC, as well as the 2011 presidential election, where four presidential candidates were deemed eligible.
On polling day, WP candidate Lee won the by-election with 54.50% versus PAP candidate Koh's 43.73%, a swing of roughly nine percentage points between them as compared to the 2011 election, while the remaining two candidates garnered under the 12.5% threshold and consequently forfeited their election deposits.[2]
Background
On 8 December 2012, local tabloid The New Paper reported receiving a tip-off in the form of screengrabs of phone messages suggesting that Palmer was involved in an affair. The messages indicated a close relationship between Palmer and the other party, with regular meetings on Mondays.[3] The tabloid also reported that the relationship had lasted for a year. On the same day of the exposé, Palmer met Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean to tender his resignation as Speaker and MP. The following day, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Palmer to formally confirm his resignation. Subsequently, the by-election was called by President Tony Tan on the advice of the Prime Minister after the Punggol East seat became vacant.
On 12 December 2012, the PAP held a press conference where Palmer announced his resignation, stating he was stepping down to "take full responsibility for a grave mistake" involving an improper relationship with a People's Association (PA) staff member, Laura Ong, who worked in the Pasir Ris West constituency office (which was overseen by Teo). Although Ong did not report directly to Palmer, they collaborated on constituency matters within the Pasir Ris–Punggol division. At the press conference, Teo announced that Senior Parliamentary Secretary and North East CDC Mayor Teo Ser Luck would serve as interim MP for Punggol East, while Zainal Sapari would take over as chairman of the Pasir Ris–Punggol Town Council. Deputy Speaker Charles Chong served as Acting Speaker until 14 January 2013, when Halimah Yacob was appointed as the new Speaker.
Confirmation of by-election
On 9 January 2013, President Tan issued a writ of election for the electoral division of Punggol East. The nominations were held on 16 January at North Vista Secondary School and voting took place on 26 January.[4]
Punggol East SMC
As of 9 January 2013, there were 31,649 registered voters, of which 59 were registered as overseas voters. Punggol East have nine polling stations across the constituency, and ballot boxes were sent to either one of the two counting centers, namely North Vista Secondary School and Rivervale Primary School.
Candidates
Four candidates were successfully nominated for this election:
| Candidates | Party | Background |
|---|---|---|
|
People's Action Party | Having joined the PAP a month prior to the by-election, Koh, a 40-year-old colorectal surgeon from Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre made its electoral debut this election. Koh was the first candidate to announce candidacy on 10 January.[5] |
| Lee Li Lian | Worker's Party | A member of the WP, Lee, a sales trainer of Singaporean insurance company Great Eastern Life, made her debut in the last general election contesting in Punggol East SMC. The WP announced her candidacy on 14 January.[6] |
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Singapore Democratic Alliance | The secretary-general of SDA since 2011 and a member of the Singapore Justice Party, Lim and SDA announced their candidacy on 15 January. As with Lee, Lim also contested Punggol East SMC in the last general election (resulting in that election's only three-way contest), but ended up garnering under 12.5% of the valid votes cast and become the only candidate that election to have his S$16,000 election deposit forfeited.[7][8] |
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Reform Party | The secretary-general for RP, Jeyaretnam, a hedge fund manager and the son of the late WP's leader and RP founder J. B. Jeyaretnam, announced his candidacy on 15 January, shortly after SDA. Jeyaretnam also made his electoral debut in the 2011 general election as part of the RP team contesting West Coast GRC.[9] |
Two other men had applied for political donation certificates but were not nominated as candidates:[10]
| Candidates | Background |
|---|---|
| Ooi Boon Ewe | Ooi was a founder of the People's Liberal Democratic Party (PLDP), who he withdraw from the party sometime in 2011.[11] During nomination day, he was unable to find his assentors, and claimed that he had misplaced his political donation certificate and his electoral deposit being stolen by his driver.[12] As a result of those losses, he ultimately withdrew from nomination.[13] |
| Zeng Guoyuan | Zeng was a retired acupuncturist and former Workers' Party (WP) candidate. While Zeng had collected his certificate, he ultimately decided not to contest due to his alleged suspicions and the higher profile among other candidates.[14] |
The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) initially expressed interest in contesting the election, with the SDP attempting to broker a deal with WP for a joint alliance,[15] but later withdrew on 15 January.[16] The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and former Singapore People's Party (SPP) member Benjamin Pwee also expressed interest into contesting the by-election, but later withdrew citing logistics reasons.[17]
Results
15 minutes before the results were announced, SDA's Desmond Lim conceded at about 10.42pm (SGT) thanking his supporters and vowed to 'keep SDA's flame alive' in the next election. A SDA spokesperson released a statement that they had entered this by-election despite anticipating the risks of vote splitting, but they did so to upheld their alliance's morale; SDA also added they will continue to work hard in the next election.[18]
At 10.57pm SGT, the results was announced when WP's Lee was declared candidate-elect with 54.52% out of 29,415 valid votes, defeating PAP opponent Koh with 43.71% of the vote. Two candidates had forfeited their $14,500 election deposit for garnering below the 12.5% threshold, namely Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the RP and Desmond Lim of the SDA with 1.20% and 0.57% of the votes respectively, with the latter becoming the second candidate to have his election deposit forfeited twice since Harbans Singh,[19] and setting a record-low vote share at the time of the election surpassing Teo Kim Hoe's former record of 196 votes or 0.81% in post-independence Singapore.
Overseas votes were tabulated four days after the by-election, on 30 January, seeing a 0.02% change in the top two parties after Koh and Lee received 19 and 7 votes respectively (there is only one spoilt and 32 abstained votes).[20] The results are as follows:
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP | Lee Li Lian | 16,045 | 54.50 |  13.49 | |
| PAP | Koh Poh Koon | 12,875 | 43.73 | 10.81 | |
| RP | Kenneth Jeyaretnam (Loses deposit) | 353 | 1.20 | N/A | |
| SDA | Desmond Lim Bak Chuan (Loses deposit) | 168 | 0.57 | 3.88 | |
| Rejected ballots | 418 | 1.40 | 0.3 | ||
| Margin of victory | 3,170 | 10.77 | 2.76 | ||
| Turnout | 29,859 | 94.31 | 0.99 | ||
| Registered electors | 31,649 | 4.9% | |||
| WP gain from PAP | Swing | 12.15 |
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Aftermath
The election was seen as another setback for the PAP following the formation of the 12th Parliament after the 2011 election, when the WP won Aljunied GRC. At the time, it appeared that public support for the PAP was waning. The WP made history with Lee Li Lian becoming the first female opposition MP in post-independence Singapore to helm a SMC and the second female opposition MP after WP chairwoman Sylvia Lim. It was also only the second instance of the PAP losing a parliamentary seat mid-term to the opposition, the first being in 1981 when the WP captured Anson. Lee was sworn in as MP a week later, on 4 February.[21]
Prime Minister Lee congratulated the WP on their victory and expressed respect for the voters' decision, noting that by-elections are often about choosing an MP rather than a government, and acknowledging that some voters may use them to support the opposition. He added that the government would focus on pressing national issues in Parliament, including the Population White Paper (PWP) and the annual Budget statement. Lee emphasised that the PAP was prepared for the long term, committed to delivering results, improving the lives of Singaporeans and presenting their performance for voters to assess in the next general election. Lee also added that he has intention to include Koh in the cabinet in the near future should he got elected in the next general election.[22][23] In a press conference after the by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean thanked their voters and supporters and took their defeat graciously, reiterating that the loss was another example of a "by-election effect" and the results in the prior general election further emphasized on their causes for their defeat. Koh also told that he would continue to serve politics whenever he felt "appropriate and the best place".[24]
Similarly, WP chief Low Thia Khiang told the media that voters should not take the by-election result for granted and emphasized that the WP would continue to hold the government accountable while representing their constituents.[25] WP chair Sylvia Lim also respect the results with "gratitude and humility", while WP-elect Lee told that she will work hard for the trust as she begin her duties.[26]
Subsequent elections
In the 2015 general election, PAP's Koh was elected as an MP for the Yio Chu Kang division under Ang Mo Kio GRC, and later represented Tampines Central in Tampines GRC during the 2020 and 2025 general elections. WP's Lee Li Lian was unable to retain Punggol East in 2015, losing narrowly to the PAP candidate Charles Chong, returning the constituency to PAP control.[27] Punggol East was later dissolved during the 2020 general election and absorbed into the newly formed Sengkang GRC.[28] The WP would go on to win the GRC, effectively returning the area formerly known as Punggol East, now Rivervale, to the party, with Louis Chua assuming the division.[29] As of 2025, the ward remains under WP's control.[30]
The next time a four-cornered contest would occur in any Singaporean election was in 2025, 12 years later, where a four-way race unfolded in Tampines GRC between the PAP, whose team coincidentally included Koh, the WP (led by former Aljunied GRC MP Faisal Manap), the National Solidarity Party (NSP) and the People's Power Party (PPP).[31] The PAP team retained that constituency with 52.02%, beating WP's team of 47.37%. Both PPP and NSP teams fared worse, as they received only 0.43% and 0.18% of the valid votes respectively and had both parties losing their deposits; both teams also surpassed Lim's score of 0.57%, setting its new record-lowest scores in post-independence Singapore, and even surpassing independent candidate Chua Kim Watt's 0.55% of the vote in Farrer Park Constituency set way back in 1955.[32]
Exit poll incident
On 10 January, the day after the writ of election was issued, The Straits Times chief editor Warren Fernandez posted an article asking about 50 residents on who they vote for, with 19 supporting PAP to 10 WP, and 21 undecided. The article was later taken down hours after the Election Department issued a notice and take down to Fernandez. When investigated by the police three days later, Fernandez insisted that the article is not a survey nor a poll, citing that the article "overstated the significance of the information gathered". He also added that "the edge that the ruling party appears to hold may be a reflection of the incumbency advantage it has always held in a middle class, traditionally PAP-leading ward", referencing that the Punggol East had been held by the PAP and those before the creation of the division, such as the Cheng San GRC.[33]
On 20 June, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) issued Fernandez a warning after the investigations concluded, revealing that the article amounts to an exit poll, where posting of such articles between the issuance of writ until polling day, is forbidden under Chapter 218 of the Parliamentary Elections Act. Penalties under this clause carries a maximum $1,500 fine or up to a year of imprisonment, or both.[34][35][36][37]
