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SINGAPORE – There are 20 PAP MPs who will not be contesting in the 2025 General Election, including Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.

Besides SM Teo and DPM Heng, other senior office-holders who have stepped down include Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Education and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman.

Senior Minister of State for Transport and Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor and Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How are also not standing for re-election.

Long-serving backbenchers who have retired include four-term MPs Lim Wee Kiak and Lim Biow Chuan, and three-term MPs Sitoh Yih Pin, Gan Thiam Poh and Foo Mee Har. There are also five one-term MPs who were not on the PAP’s slate of candidates at the close of Nomination Day on April 23.

SM Teo, who entered politics in 1992 and was anchor minister for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, had earlier said he would not be standing in the newly formed Pasir Ris-Changi GRC, but stopped short of saying he would retire.

On April 23, he told The Straits Times at the Yusof Ishak Secondary School nomination centre that he would not be standing for MP, and that he has not thought about what he will do next.

“The most important thing now is to give Prime Minister Lawrence Wong the strongest possible team, to help take us through these turbulent times and into the future,” he said.

DPM Heng, meanwhile, was the subject of much interest in the lead-up to Nomination Day, as the People’s Action Party did not confirm who it would field in the East Coast. Speculation was that he could be moved to another constituency, or he could step away from politics altogether. His first election had been in 2011, in Tampines GRC.

About an hour after nominations closed, DPM Heng said in a Facebook post that he would not be running in the 2025 General Election as he believed “now is the right time to make way for a new team of capable individuals who are well placed to serve Singapore”.

He added that PM Wong had won Singaporeans’ trust, and had grown in confidence and stature, and he called on Singaporeans to give the Prime Minister a strong mandate to lead Singapore.

In a Facebook post after Nomination Day proceedings, PM Wong paid tribute to DPM Heng and SM Teo, calling them giants in public service who had dedicated their entire careers to serving Singapore and Singaporeans.

Both men could have continued serving, but chose to step aside to make way for leadership renewal, he added.

“Without Swee Keat and Chee Hean, Singapore would not have been able to achieve all that it has over these years. If I am able to take Singapore forward from here, it is because of leaders like them – who worked tirelessly to lay such strong and enduring foundations,” said PM Wong.

ST had earlier reported that about 20 PAP MPs were expected to retire ahead of the 2025 General Election, after the ruling party announced that it would field 32 new faces at the polls. But of the 20, only 11 had announced their intention to retire, while the rest had left the door open to being fielded elsewhere.

The 20 included five one-term MPs: Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman, Mr Derrick Goh, Ms Ng Ling Ling, Ms Carrie Tan and Mr Don Wee.

While the PAP typically retires between a quarter and a third of its serving MPs at each election, there have been relatively few legislators who have stepped down after completing only one term.

After the 2020 General Election, Mr Fahmi was appointed as Mayor of South East District. The other four were backbenchers.

MPs who served two terms and have retired are: Ms Cheryl Chan, Mr Chong Kee Hiong, Mr Louis Ng and Dr Tan Wu Meng.

Beyond the senior office-holders, the retiring MP with the most political experience is Mr Heng Chee How, who fought his first election in 1997 in Hougang SMC, against WP stalwart Low Thia Khiang. Mr Low won with 58.02 per cent of the votes.

Mr Heng was part of the PAP team that took Jalan Besar GRC in 2001.

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