There may not have been any new Indian PAP candidates in this year's slate, but the Indian community will continue to be represented, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Responding to a question yesterday at a virtual press conference, he said the party would like to have a balanced slate each time "but at the margins, variations from year to year cannot entirely be precluded".

Said PM Lee: "Overall, what is important and what we will look at, is not just how many new ones are coming in, but how many will be in Parliament in the next term."

PM Lee added that in the process of winnowing down several hundred candidates to the final 27 new faces, the PAP felt that this was the strongest slate it could field.

He said: "Looking at the individual candidates, we were not leaving out any candidate because of any racial considerations.

"Nor should we have specifically said: 'Well, not quite, but we will do it because I want to meet the presentation and it shows that I've ticked the box.'"

PM Lee added that while there were no new Indian candidates this year, there are "quite a number" of sitting Indian office-holders and incumbent MPs who are not stepping down this time round.

He gave his assurance that there will continue to be Indian MPs to represent the Indian community and other voters, just as there will be Malay ones "in good measure".

PM Lee said he is confident that overall, the PAP will have a balanced slate "but I will keep looking very hard for good MPs - Indians, Malays and Chinese - and I will look out for them for the next term".