Mothership.sg has learned from party insiders that Workers' Party Aljunied MP and 2011 star candidate Chen Show Mao on Sunday afternoon challenged party chief Low Thia Khiang for his post at the biennial central executive council (CEC) election.

Many had expected secretary-general Low, 59, as well as chairwoman Sylvia Lim, 51, to be re-elected into their positions unopposed, and for the key moves to take place among a downsized CEC — currently with 17 members, it will be reduced to 14 in accordance with the party's constitution, with potential new faces slated to be voted in.

Chen's challenge came as a shock though — an unidentified member nominated him, and there was "pin-drop silence" for a few seconds.

We understand Low abstained from the secretary-general vote, but was eventually re-elected successfully with 61 votes to Chen's 45, as reported by The Straits Times.

That's a difference of 16 votes in Low's favour — 17, if he had participated in the ballot.

Prior to Sunday, Low had, according to ST, added 28 new party members to WP's cadres -- members with voting rights to elect the CEC -- bringing the total group of voting members to "about 130", the paper reported.

His purpose of doing this? To ensure that the members earmarked for leadership positions in the CEC would be successfully elected, they added.

This is the first time Low faced a challenge for his post since he first took it up 15 years ago, reported ST.

Low's push for leadership renewal may have been just the thing that saved him.

Related article:

Workers’ Party leadership election: Predicting Low Thia Khiang’s dream team this Sunday

Workers’ Party’s Low & Lim hurt each other’s wrist in arm wrestling match?

Top photos from Workers' Party's Facebook page.

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.