Singapore's ruling party PAP wins Bukit Batok by-election

K Muralidharan Pillai, the candidate for Singapore's ruling party People's Action Party (PAP), won the by-election for Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency (SMC) with 61.2 percent of the votes, according to results of the polls by Elections Department of Singapore (ELD).

The final results showed PAP garnered the SMC, while Chee Soon Juan, the candidate for Singapore's opposition party Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), had 38.8 percent of the votes.

There are 25,727 registered electors in the SMC. The ELD said a total of 24,192 votes were cast, which made up 94.03 percent of the voter pool.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Murali Pillai on his win, saying this is not just a win for Bukit Batok, but shows "all Singaporeans, and others too, that the government and people are united in building a better nation together".

Murali Pillai, a 48-year-old lawyer, thanked the voters for their support after the results announced, saying there's much to be done, and he will start tomorrow.

Murali said he would push all three programs he has outlined during his campaign, namely, job placement, healthcare cooperative, and finding mentors for children from low-income families.

Chee, who is secretary-general of the SDP, also congratulated Murali Pillai on his victory in his speech. Chee said he hope the residents get to know him in the years to come.

"This is a journey. The destination is still far away...one day we will get there," said Chee.

The Bukit Batok single seat was vacated after PAP's representative David Ong resigned over an alleged extramarital affair in March.

Singapore's ruling party PAP garnered 83 of the 89 parliamentary seats in general election September 2015 with a landslide victory, winning 69.86 percent of votes. The 89 parliamentary seats were split into 16 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) where the candidates from a contesting party is required to be fielded as a team, and 13 SMCs.

In the General Election last September, PAP's David Ong won the Bukit Batok SMC with 73.02 percent of the votes. Singapore Democratic Party's (SDP) Sadasivam Veriyah took 26.38 percent, while independent candidate Samir Salim Neji got 0.6 percent.

Source: XINHUA