Punjab-born Singapore MP announces his retirement from politics
Sunday, 26/07/2015
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
SINGAPORE: Punjab-born Singapore MP Inderjit Singh (55) has announced his retirement from politics, saying he would not contest the citystate’s upcoming general election, for which the government has redrawn electoral boundaries.
Inderjit Singh, a Sikh, has served as a member of Singapore Parliament since 1997 from the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituencies (GRC) along with his country’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong. The veteran was elected in 1997 under the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). “I did my best to serve, and this would not have been possible without my team, the grassroots leaders and branch activists… who have become my extended family,” he posted on socialnetworking website Facebook on Friday.
The businessman is known for his hard-hitting speeches on the impact of economic restructuring, foreign labour curbs and rising costs on small businesses. In 2007, he warned of overcrowding and soaring costs.
Although an official general election date is not fixed yet, the government has announced changes to electoral boundaries for 89 parliamentary seats — 13 from single-seat wards and 76 from the GRCs, which usually combines minority ethnic representations from Malays and Indians as well as other races.
Changes to the electoral boundaries saw his ward being moved from Ang Mo Kio GRC to Nee Soon GRC. Singapore’s Parliament has 87 elected members.
The others are three non-constituency MPs who lost marginally in last elections and nine nominated MPs with one vacant seat, following the death of Lee Kuan Yew, founding prime minister of Singapore, in March.
