SINGAPORE’S long-time ruling party won an overwhelming parliamentary majority in elections, as had been widely expected, but strong gains by the opposition are seen as heralding change in how the wealthy city-state is run.
While the ruling People’s Action Party won 81 of the 87 parliament seats in Saturday’s election, notching up 60 per cent of the two million votes cast, the Workers Party won six seats, the most ever by the opposition.
“This election marks a distinct shift in our political landscape which all of us must adjust to,” prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a televised news conference.
Mr Lee’s father was Singapore’s founder Lee Kuan Yew. The PAP has run the city state since it achieved independence from Britain in 1965, and is credited with transforming the once-sleepy colonial backwater into one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
Among the PAP casualties was foreign minister George Yeo, who recently acted as grand marshal at the St Patrick’s Day parade in Singapore.
An ultra-modern city state of five million people, home to major biotech industries, financial services companies and IT concerns, Singapore is about the size of New York and is strategically placed at the southern end of the Malay peninsula.
It has an authoritarian image – its detractors call it Disneyland with the Death Penalty – with critical journalists jailed for criminal libel, the death penalty for drug smuggling, canings for spoiled expatriate brats and a notorious chewing gum ban.
Most residents are fiercely proud of their city and its achievements. However there were more divisive issues in Saturday’s poll, including a widening income gap, stagnant wages, inflation, rising housing costs and also a sharp rise in the number of foreign workers living in Singapore.
“While the voters have given the PAP a strong mandate,” Mr Lee said, “many voters, including some of those who voted for us, clearly expressed their significant concerns both on the issues and our approach to government.
“Many Singaporeans wish for the government to adopt a different style and approach. We hear your voice. The PAP will learn from this election and put right what is wrong.”
The PAP controls 81 out of 87 seats in parliament, which means it will comfortably be able to pass key laws, including amendments to the constitution. However, the opposition was jubilant.
“This is a political landmark in modern Singapore,” Workers Party general secretary Low Thia Khiang told cheering supporters. “Your courage has made a real breakthrough for future generations. You’ve taken a real leap of faith.”