Shaking it up: Singapore
Photograph of supporters of the opposition Workers’ Party during the announcement of the results. Photo courtesy of Foreign Policy.
On 10 July, held parliamentary elections, which, in a rare moment for Singaporean politics, saw the opposition make significant gains.
The centre-right People's Action Party (PAP), which has governed the country since before independence in 1965, failed to win 10 out of the 93 seats up for grabs this year. While the PAP's 83 seats are still more than enough to form a governing majority, the increased involvement of opposition parties in the election shows changes to the nation's political system and discontent with the leaders of the ruling party.
While Singapore is generally considered to be an efficient and relatively fair democracy, especially compared to some of their regional partners, the government has been criticised for lending undue advantages to the ruling party, such as unfair pro-administration media privileges, the lifting of certain legal barriers, and some censorships of free expression, according to a report by Freedom House, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.
Singapore is divided into group representation constituencies (GRCs), which are represented by a 'group' of three to six MPs. In 1988 new laws were passed that mandated that Indian, Malay, and other minority groups have more representation in these GRCs.
A new 'fake news' law passed last year has also sparked criticisms about free speech and expression in the country.
The PAP has also been accused of allocating more infrastructure and development resources to PAP constituencies to retain their voting bases and spread discontent in opposition-led sectors, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Almost none of the election authorities are independent from the government or the ruling party. Prime-Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his government called the election date and held a nine-day campaign cycle. COVID-19 restrictions also reportedly hindered ground campaigning and rallies by the opposition, important tool used in the past by opposition leaders.
The largest opposition party, the centre-left Workers' Party (WP), saw the largest gains, winning 10 seats.
One of the most surprising wins by WP was in Sengkang where the incumbent lost with 47.9 per cent of the vote to a four-person campaign team.
Heng Swee Keat, the deputy prime-minister and Mr Lee's likely successor, who had a visible role in the nation's response to COVID-19 and government stimulus, also saw an embarrassingly close election, winning with only 53.4 per cent of the vote, dangerously low for someone in his position, as reported by The Economist.
Workers' Party Secretary-General Pritam Singh made a statement saying that he had no intention of being able to govern but wanted to provide a check to the PAP.
Mr Singh is considered to be the first party leader to legitimise the title of 'Leader of the Opposition', having been given state resources and staff by the prime-minister to perform his duties, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Mr Lee, who is expected to step down in 2022 around his 70th birthday, has benefited from his father's legacy, who also governed Singapore through a period of unprecedented economic, political, and cultural expansion.
Singapore is now one of the world's leading economic and trade centres, giving the small city-state immense heft on the global stage.
While the government and ruling party of Singapore will not change after this year's election, the changes to the cultural and political environment of this troubled democracy have been made clearly visible for its voters.
Sources:
‘Freedom in the World 2020: Singapore’. Freedom House, Freedom House, 2020,
https://freedomhouse.org/country/singapore/freedom-world/2020
‘Singapore election: Does the political shake-up change anything?’. BBC News, British Broadcasting Corporation, 22 July 2020,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53471536
‘Singapore ruling PAP party wins elections, but support falls’. BBC News, British Broadcasting Corporation, 10 July 2020,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53358650
‘Singapore’s ruling party wins easily—but its vote falls sharply’. The Economsit, The Economist Group, 10 July 2020,