The secretary-general of the People's Power Party (PPP), Mr Goh Meng Seng, has said he will contest in single-member constituency MacPherson, where he is expected to face off against the People's Action Party's Tin Pei Ling.
In a Facebook post yesterday, he posted a map of the MacPherson area with the caption: "Finally put my operational skills learned from army as officer into good use..."
When contacted, the 50-year-old confirmed he will stand in the constituency, and said more details will be given later.
Ms Tin, 36, was first elected in 2011, and in 2015, won a three-cornered fight for MacPherson with 65.6 per cent of the votes.
Responding to Mr Goh's announcement, Ms Tin wrote on her Facebook page yesterday: "I welcome the contest, which will be good for our democracy and for the residents of MacPherson.
"Mr Goh Meng Seng is a veteran politician with many years of experience, and I do not underestimate his campaign capability.
"MacPherson is always special to me. Having served in MacPherson for 10 years, I deeply cherish the bonds I share with our residents, and will continue to do my very best to serve, if I am given the opportunity to do so," she added.
On Tuesday, the PPP had announced plans to field candidates in Radin Mas and MacPherson, two SMCs from which other opposition parties had backed out.
But on Wednesday, the party said in a Facebook post at about 2.30am that it would "take a step back" to make way for the Reform Party to focus on Radin Mas.
Mr Goh said that his party, which he formed to run in the 2015 General Election, has two core principles: to ensure every Singaporean has a choice to vote for different parties, and to avoid three-cornered fights.
The National Solidarity Party (NSP) had indicated its interest to contest in MacPherson in March, but has since dropped its plan, The Straits Times understands .
"I hate to see MacPherson being left behind. This was the first place I held a rally at when I was with NSP in 2011," said Mr Goh, who was NSP's secretary-general at the time. He quit the party after the 2011 election and set up PPP.
"It's only good for me to get back there to do something," he added.
MacPherson, which was merged with Marine Parade GRC in 1991, became a single-member constituency again in the 2015 General Election.
