"The results of the Punggol East by-election surprised everyone. People expected a very close fight. No one expected PAP, by its own standards, to be thrashed by such a wide margin. Even the professional forecasters who make a living offering odds thought that the PAP was going to win by 1000 votes." - Dr Wong Wee Nam(SG Politics.net)
"In a by-election, the governing party candidate always has a tougher fight. Voters see it as choosing an MP, not choosing a government, and opposition parties encourage them to do so." - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
"The results show that the effect (of new government policies responding to citizens' concerns) has not really trickled down on the ground." Low Thia Khiang , MP for Aljunied GRC, WP secretary-general
The Punggol East by-election, held on 26 January 2013, was a widely watched event by Singaporeans. It was held after former Parliament Speaker and MP for Punggol East Michael Palmer resigned in 2012 after admitting to being involved in a extramarital affair. The by election was a 4-way fight with the PAP candidate Dr Koh Poh Koon, WP candidate Lee Li Lian, Reform Party candidate Kenneth Jeyaretnam and Singapore Demcratic Alliance candidate Desmond Lim contesting.
Despite announcing billion-dollar projects to boost public transport, healthcare, and parenthood incentives during the campaign week and promising to tackle hot-topic issues of housing, immigration and transport that voters are concerned with, the PAP, which was widely predicated to win the by-election, lost to the WP by a surprisingly large margin.
Ms. Lee, a 34-year-old sales trainer got 16,038 votes, or 54.2% of votes, while PAP candidate Dr Koh Poh Koon got 12,856 votes . She had campaigned on the promise to make the voices of worried young parents raising children heard, as well as those elderly Singaporeans facing rising costs and medical care.
A total of 24 speeches were made by WP members in 3 rallies while 10 speeches were made by the PAP in 2 rallies.
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| By-election Results |
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| WP candidate Ms. Lee L Lian |
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| PAP candidate Dr. Koh Poh Koon |
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