142 applicants vie for 55 People's Alliance candidate spots

The People’s Alliance Party (PAP) is preparing to cut its pool of 142 potential candidates to 55 as it moves into the final stages of candidate selection for the next general election.

PAP general secretary Sila Balawa said applications had been reviewed by the party’s divisions, with recommendations now expected to go to the candidate selection sub-committee for final consideration.

“We have like 142 and the challenge is to whittle that down to 55,” he said.

“All members in Parliament. Members from around the country, branch members from around the country including the G11 that came in to be part of the coalition government. They have also applied.”

Mr Balawa said the party was treating the selection process as a matter of urgency, although no specific deadline had been set.

The party’s National People’s Assembly, or annual general meeting, is scheduled for October 31 at Novotel, and Mr Balawa said he hoped the candidate list would be settled by then.

“We are in the final stages of processing our candidates. We have done our consultation with the divisions that includes the Western Division, the Northern Division and of course the Central and the Eastern.”

Final recommendations from the divisions will be forwarded to the candidate selection sub-committee for analysis before the candidates are selected.

The candidate selection process was among the issues discussed at the PAP Central Division annual general meeting, where branches from the division’s five provinces reported on their activities and discussed plans for the election.