PAP wins 67% of total votes

PAP leader Lee Hsien Loong happy with "strong mandate"; Hougang and Potong Pasir remain in Opposition camp, Aljunied GRC narrowly escapes joining them.

By Ahmad Osman, Adrian Tay, Amy Yeong, Grace Goh, Joel Boh, Paul Jansen
May 7, 2006
AsiaOne Special Political Correspondent

Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) won 45 of the 47 parliamentary seats contested in the country’s tenth general election, giving it a total of 82 seats in the 84-seat assembly.

Before polling yesterday (May 6), it had 37 “walkover” seats following a lack of competition for these when nominations opened on April 27.

But the percentage of votes secured by the party yesterday, which has governed Singapore since independence in 1965, fell from 75.3 per cent in the last election in 2001 to 66.6 per cent in this election.

Speaking at a press conference at the Treasury building at 2 am this morning, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, leading the PAP into a general election for the first time, said that he was happy with the results, pointing out that it was “slightly higher than the percentage we scored in 1997” and described it as a “strong mandate”.

The PAP failed to oust the two opposition Members of Parliament (MP) who were re-elected with bigger majorities, despite training its “big gun”, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, on them.

Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) leader, Mr Chiam See Tong, 71, will serve his sixth straight term as the MP of Potong Pasir. His slim victory margin of 751 votes in 2001 rose to 1,724 votes, 55.8 per cent of the votes cast, despite the PAP’s offer of an $80 million upgrade of the single-member ward if its 42-year-old candidate Sitoh Yih Pin won.

Over at Hougang, Workers’ Party (WP) chief, Mr Low Thia Khiang, 50, scored his fourth straight victory as the MP for the single seat constituency.

Like Mr Chiam, his winning percentage rose, from 55 per cent in 2001 to 62.7 per cent. The PAP’s $100 million upgrading plan to entice Hougang’s constituents to vote against Mr Low did not dampen his popularity.

This morning, Mr Lee said: “We will respect the choice of the voters.”

The closely-watched five-member Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC), which was hotly contested by the WP and the PAP, led by Foreign Minister Mr George Yeo, ended with a narrow win for the PAP of 56.1 per cent of the votes.

The WP’s team, led by party chairman and law lecturer Sylvia Lim, had tried hard to win the first GRC for the opposition but had to be satisfied with 43.9 per cent of the votes, making it the best-performing loser in the Opposition camp, and eligible for a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) ticket into Parliament.

In 1997, Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam, then secretary-general of the WP, became an NCMP after his Cheng San GRC team won 45.2 per cent of the valid votes, making it the best performer among the Opposition losers that year.

During his press conference, Mr Lee pointed to the better showing by the WP (16.35 per cent) and SDA (12.97 per cent) in terms of voter percentage compared with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) (4.09 per cent) led by Dr Chee Soon Juan.

He said that this showed that voters wanted a credible opposition and rejected the type of politics practiced by the SDP. This year’s campaign by the SDA and WP focused on the future of the opposition in Singapore.

Their main message was: Do not give the PAP a clean sweep and blank cheque to do what it pleases.

They argued: A strong opposition will provide checks and balances to the PAP government.

The WP and SDA also said that the costs of living and healthcare was rising, there was a widening income gap and the PAP’s strategy of putting opposition wards at the bottom of the queue for the upgrading of public housing estates was divisive.

The PAP, entering the polls for the first time under the leadership of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, had asked Singaporeans to give him and his team a strong mandate to secure Singapore’s future.

Its manifesto pledges to attend to the needs of all, young and old and the poor, and unite society under the slogan “Staying Together, Moving Ahead”.

Political watchers said that the decline in the percentage of votes for the PAP in this election was not unexpected: The twin problems of terrorism and recession as the country went to the polls in November 2001 led many Singaporeans to give a resounding mandate to the party.

Today, the backdrop is a sparkling economy. Growth in the first quarter of this year topped 10 per cent, beating official preliminary estimates, with the official full-year GDP forecast of 4 to 6 per cent to be revised upward.

Employment creation last year hit an eight-year high of 113,300 new jobs. The government also rolled out an aggressive help package for those who might have missed out on the upturn in the economy.

In the run-up to this general election, speeches by WP chairman Ms Lim and other young, well-educated opposition candidates, drew the crowds to WP rallies.

The PAP, in mid-stride, launched an all-out onslaught against Ms Lim’s Aljunied team-mate, Mr James Gomez, a researcher with international connections.

He had claimed that he had submitted his minority form to the Elections Department in the presence of witnesses. But the department proved that he did not, using closed-circuit TV footage of his actions at the counter to show that he had walked off with the form in his briefcase.

Seizing on this, a taped telephone conversation, and comments that Mr Gomez made to a PAP candidate, Mr Inderjit Singh, and Mr Singh’s election official, PAP leaders insisted that Mr Gomez did not make an innocent mistake when he failed to submit his minority certificate form to the Elections Department.

Their charge: He lied about the form in a bid to smear the department and the whole electoral process.

Mr Low rejected the PAP’s demand to drop Mr Gomez from the WP’s Aljunied slate after the latter apologised publicly for his mistake. Mr Gomez hit back at the PAP saying it was engaging in “Third World gutter politics.”

On Thursday, with just two days to go before the polls, the PAP abruptly changed course.

Mr Lee led the way, saying there would be time and opportunity for a “proper public resolution” of the Gomez matter after the election. “It is useful for us to take stock, sum up the debate so far and refocus ourselves on what this election is about,” he said. “In one word, this election is about our future.”

On the eve of polling day, he reiterated his vision of a Singapore with good jobs, top quality education, a first-class living environment, quality but affordable medical care, and focused and targeted assistance for the poor and the needy.

His appeal to first-time and young voters: “The future of Singapore is in your hands. Give me and my team a strong mandate to work with you for a safer Singapore, a stronger Singapore and a better Singapore.”

Workers Party’s Mr Low wrapped up his party’s campaign with the message that he was much older and less educated than many of his party’s other candidates and called on voters to give the party a strong signal so that it could continue to attract more good people.

He said if he did not get that signal, “we may not be able to provide you with such a strong choice in future”. “Is that what you want?,” he asked.

The voters delivered their response on polling day.

And, at least for the WP’s Aljunied team, the answer was satisfactory. After all the results were in, Ms Sylvia Lim, who led it, thanked all who had voted for it and announced: “We will be back.”