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Singapore election 2020
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Online backlash forces Singapore’s PAP to drop Ivan Lim as election candidate

  • Lim was criticised for elitism and arrogant behaviour at work and during military service
  • PM Lee Hsien Loong said the controversy was unfortunate, but there was no time during the campaign for a thorough investigation of allegations

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Ivan Lim Shaw Chuan, one of the new candidates for Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party, has dropped out of the July 10 election after an online backlash over his past behaviour. Photo: Twitter
Dewey SimandBhavan Jaipragas
Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) suffered a surprise setback on Saturday as one of its new candidates for the July 10 general election, Ivan Lim Shaw Chuan, dropped out of the race after a wave of criticism over his behaviour at work and during military service.

The decision was a dramatic about-turn by the 42-year-old, who in the afternoon had issued a statement rebutting some of the criticism in a two-page statement.

But late in the evening, in a letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – the PAP chief – Lim said despite his clarifications “further allegations” had emerged, and said these were “baseless”.

“I am writing to withdraw as a PAP candidate in the coming election,” Lim wrote. He said he understood that the saga had eclipsed issues that the party had hoped to focus on, such as the country’s post-pandemic recovery.

In reply, Prime Minister Lee said he accepted the withdrawal and described the controversy as unfortunate.

“Ideally there would have been a fair and deliberate consideration of these allegations,” Lee said. “Unfortunately, the nature of the campaign is such that we do not have time for a thorough investigation,” Lee wrote in his response, which was released to the media. “The allegations spread like wildfire online, eclipsing the serious life and death issues we must grapple with”.

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