SINGAPORE: Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan said on Sunday (Mar 23) that he will contest in the new Sembawang West Single Member Constituency (SMC) in the upcoming General Election.

Speaking during a walkabout in Woodlands, Dr Chee said he would have to leave Bukit Batok, where he had contested in the 2016 by election and the 2020 General Election.

Dr Chee added that the party's chairman, Professor Paul Tambyah, will compete again in Bukit Panjang SMC, where he stood in the 2020 General Election.

"That means I have to leave Bukit Batok, and I do it with a heavy heart. You don't spend 10 years, getting to know the residents, building up the community, entering the lives of the residents there and then have it yanked away from you with the stroke of a pen, without feeling that void," Dr Chee said.

SDP's announcements on Sunday come after the release of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee's report on Mar 11, which saw extensive changes made to Singapore's electoral map.

Sembawang West is among six new SMCs that have been carved out. It will have 24,153 voters.

Yuhua and Bukit Batok SMCs - where SDP contested in the 2020 General Election - have been absorbed into the new Jurong East-Bukit Batok Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

In 2020, the party also contested in Bukit Panjang SMC as well as two other GRCs, Holland-Bukit Timah and Marsiling-Yew Tee, but failed to win any seats in parliament. 

In 2022, SDP said it intends to contest in Sembawang GRC in the next General Election, a constituency it ran in during the 2006 and 2011 elections.