Indian-origin man elected to Singapore parliament

Singapore, May 9: An Indian-origin lawyer from Singapore's ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has been elected member of the parliament following his victory in the by-election held at suburban Bukit Batok constituency.

Murali Pillai garnered 61.21 per cent of the votes, while Singapore Democratic Party's Chee Soon Juan got 38.79 per cent of votes.

The Elections Department yesterday said a total of 24,192 votes were cast, including 622 rejected votes, which made up 94.03 per cent of the 25,727 registered electors.

Chee, a vociferous opposition leader, had challenged the ruling party in the one-on-one contest. President Tony Tan Keng Yam had issued the writ of election on April 20.

The Bukit Batok single seat was vacated when previous PAP MP David Ong resigned in March, following an alleged extramarital affair with a PAP activist. PAP, led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has absolute majority in the house.

PTI