Singapore election: Governing party secures decisive win

[Monoriu]

Singapore's governing People's Action Party (PAP) has won a decisive victory in the general election.

Partial results suggest the PAP is on course to increase its share of the vote. The party has won every election since independence in 1965.

Patriotic feeling over the death of long-term leader Lee Kuan Yew may have swelled the vote, analysts said.

The opposition, running in all constituencies for the first time, had hoped to challenge the PAP's dominance.

But initial results showed that the PAP had crossed the threshold to gain a majority in Singapore's 89-seat parliament.

The final result is expected in the coming hours.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of PAP founder Lee Kuan Yew, said he was "humbled" by the result.

"Tomorrow will be better than today," he told supporters.

Singapore has more than two million registered voters

While the result was widely expected, the PAP's main rival - the Workers' Party - could end up with fewer than the seven seats it won in the last election. A number of smaller parties also ran.

The PAP's success has been attributed to its widespread popularity among Singaporeans - who have seen their country rapidly evolve into a first-world economy - as well as its tight political control.

But government stumbles in managing immigration and infrastructure, coupled with a greater desire by younger Singaporeans for political plurality, have led to gains by opposition parties over the years.

The Singapore Democratic Party's Chee Soon Juan, who was formerly bankrupted by defamation suits launched by Lee Kuan Yew, was hoping to stage a political comeback

If the last election was the PAP's nadir, then this one marked its return to glory.

In 2011 it scored 60% of the vote share - a good showing by most counts, but it was the party's worst ever performance - thanks to public unhappiness over an influx of foreigners, a housing shortage, and transport breakdowns.

It sought to resolve these problems, promised to listen to citizens more, and put in place slightly more generous social welfare policies. On Friday, voters rewarded the party with a bigger mandate.

Lingering feel-good vibes from last month's jubilee celebrations, and a renewed sense of gratitude to PAP founder and revered leader Lee Kuan Yew, triggered by his death in March, no doubt also played a part in voters' decisions.

The PAP's return to power was widely expected but its large margin was a surprise to many, not least to the main opposition Workers' Party (WP). It campaigned on a platform of providing an effective check on the PAP, but lost a constituency and saw its winning margins reduced in the few seats it retained.


The results thus cement the PAP's long-running political dominance in Singapore and highlight the long slog ahead for those pushing for political plurality with an electorate which, for now, appears unconvinced of its merits.

[Monoriu]

[mongers]

A Chinese electorate chooses to act together as a rubber stamp; knock me down with a feather. 

[Monoriu]

A Chinese electorate chooses to act together as a rubber stamp; knock me down with a feather. 

The people have spoken 

[The Larch]

One party state keeps electing the same party over and over. News at 11.

[Monoriu]

One party state keeps electing the same party over and over. News at 11.

Singapore is many things, but the actual voting is clean.  Voters can choose alternative parties if they want to. 

[The Larch]

One party state keeps electing the same party over and over. News at 11.

Singapore is many things, but the actual voting is clean.  Voters can choose alternative parties if they want to.

It might have the trappings of a democratic system, but when the same party rules uninterrupted and with overwhelming majorities for more than 50 years (including a 12 year period with no opposition in parliament) you can't really call yourself a democracy, the system is rigged.

[Monoriu]

It might have the trappings of a democratic system, but when the same party rules uninterrupted and with overwhelming majorities for more than 50 years (including a 12 year period with no opposition in parliament) you can't really call yourself a democracy, the system is rigged.

I think Japan also had a multi-decade period when voters chose the same party over and over, from the 50s to the 90s.  Can't deny that it is a democracy because of that though.

Singapore - I agree the system is unfair, but only to an extent.  The fact remains that voters can choose alternatives but they didn't. 

[Valmy]

It might have the trappings of a democratic system, but when the same party rules uninterrupted and with overwhelming majorities for more than 50 years (including a 12 year period with no opposition in parliament) you can't really call yourself a democracy, the system is rigged.

Is Mexico aware of how you feel about their history from 1929 until 2000?

[LaCroix]

It might have the trappings of a democratic system, but when the same party rules uninterrupted and with overwhelming majorities for more than 50 years (including a 12 year period with no opposition in parliament) you can't really call yourself a democracy, the system is rigged.

isn't south africa the same?

[Valmy]

South Africa has not had the same party for 50 years.

[Grinning_Colossus]

A Chinese electorate chooses to act together as a rubber stamp; knock me down with a feather. 

The people have spoken 

As it should be. Stability is ensured. 

[LaCroix]

South Africa has not had the same party for 50 years.

i'm going off recollection, but hasn't south africa had the same party since the fall of apartheid? if so, whether it's 30 or 50 years shouldn't matter.

[Tonitrus]

Meh, I think it's easily possible for a democratic state to run fair elections and have the same people/party win over-and-over.  Especially if they run the country successfully, keep the economy in good shape, and enforce rule of law.  We may not think of Singapore being all that enlightened as a society, and the laws as overly harsh, but I don't doubt that most of the people there probably think the government serves them well.

[Monoriu]

PAP won nearly 70% of the vote, compared with 60% in the last election.  In terms of seats, they got 83 out of 89.  The opposition Workers' Party got 6 seats, one fewer than the previous number.  They narrowly retained a group district worth 5 seats with 51% of the votes.