Elections in Singapore

Singapore

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Singapore

Constitution Legislature President: Tony Tan Keng Yam Parliament Speaker: Michael Palmer Constituencies Members of Parliament (MPs) Non-constituency MPs Nominated MPs Political parties Executive President: Tony Tan Keng Yam Government Prime Minister: Lee Hsien Loong Cabinet Government organisations Judiciary Judicial system Chief Justice: Chan Sek Keong Supreme Court (Court of Appeal and High Court) Subordinate Courts Elections Presidential elections Parliamentary elections Women in Singapore politics Foreign relations

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal

There are currently two types of elections in Singapore: parliamentary and presidential elections.

While the Constitution of Singapore does not specify exactly when elections need to be held, Parliamentary or General Elections are generally 5 years apart, while Presidential elections are generally held 6 years apart.

The Parliament of Singapore is unicameral with 87 seats. Since the Legislative Assembly election in 1959, the government of Singapore has always been formed by the People's Action Party with an overwhelming majority, and in several elections the only party elected.

Parliamentary elections

From Singapore's independence in 1968 to 1981, the People's Action Party has won every single seat in every election held, forming a parliament with no elected opposition MPs for almost two decades.

In 1984, opposition politicians secured an elected seat in parliament for the first time in a general election. 2 seats out of 74 seats went to opposition politicians. In 1988, the opposition won 1 seat out of 77 seats. In 1991, the opposition won 4 seats out of 81 seats. In 1997, 2001 and 2006, the opposition secured 2 seats for each respective election.

Throughout the history of the Republic of Singapore, only 10 opposition politicians have ever been elected into parliament before. They are Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, Chiam See Tong, Low Thia Khiang, Ling How Doong, Cheo Chai Chen, Lim Swee Lian Sylvia, Chen Show Mao, Pritam Singh, Muhamad Faisal bin Abdul Manap and Yaw Shin Leong.

The campaigning time for elections in Singapore is very short. The legal minimum campaign time, from when the election is announced to polling day, is nine days. This minimum campaigning time is generally used in Singaporean elections. The announcement of the election follows the announcement of new constituency boundaries.

Walkover rates for parliamentary elections are extremely high when compared to international norms. Since 1991, walkover rates have hovered around 50% for each election. This means that around 50% of the seats of each election are uncontested and the People's Action Party wins them by default without constituents having to cast a single vote. Even before the votes are counted, the PAP has more or less won the election due to extremely high walkover rates.

The electoral system reduces the chances of opposition representation in Parliament with a "winner takes all" system for Group Representation Constituencies. However, Freedom House has noted that elections in Singapore are technically free of electoral fraud.

Presidential elections

Presidential elections have been held since 1993. Under the "Presidential Elections Act", to run for President, one must obtain a "certificate of eligibility" from the Presidential Elections Committee. To obtain this certificate, one must be:

1. a person of integrity, good character and reputation; and

2. has held for at least 3 years a cabinet ministerial post, headed a statutory board, or been a CEO of a company incorporated in Singapore worth over $100 million in paid-up capital, or has equivalent management experience.

Because of the high requirements needed to run for presidential elections, many presidential elections have been uncontested. All presidential elections have been walkovers except for the first one, held in 1993 which was contested by two people. The first presidential election was won by Ong Teng Cheong, a former member of the PAP. Subsequent presidential elections in 1999 and 2005 have been won by S.R. Nathan through walkovers.

The 2011 presidential election was contested by Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Tan Jee Say and Tan Kin Lian. All candidates except Tan Jee Say were former members of the PAP. The election was won by Tony Tan with a margin of 0.34% over Tan Cheng Bock.

Possibilities for high walkover rates

Populace is contented with the government

The first possibility is that the Singapore populace is fully contented with the government and does not see the need for a shadow cabinet or working opposition team in parliament.^{[citation needed]}

This is due to the effectiveness of the Singapore government in providing a high standard of living and low unemployment rate in Singapore^{[citation needed]}, as well as the lack of corruption (Singapore is ranked among the "least corrupt" by the Corruption Perceptions Index).^{[citation needed]} Though this does not explain why other comparable countries have significant opposition parties.

Opposition views

The second possibility is that the Singapore populace is enveloped in a climate of fear, hence they do not dare to run for elections. Dr Catherine Lim has spoken about this "climate of fear" many times. She argues that a climate of fear hurts Singapore.

In Singapore, opposition politicians and trade unionists have been detained in prison without trial before in the 1960s early 1970s. Many such as Lim Chin Siong, Said Zahari and Lim Hock Siew have been accused by the government for being involved in subversive communist struggles. Among them, Chia Thye Poh was detained the longest, he was detained for 23 years without any trial.

In 1988, Francis Seow, former solicitor general of Singapore and opposition politician, was also detained without trial. He was later charged with tax evasion but he fled overseas and sought asylum successfully in the USA. He was convicted of tax evasion in absentia.

Prominent opposition politicians such as Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam and Chee Soon Juan have also been sued for defamation by government politicians under Singapore's strict libel laws. They were both bankrupted and made to pay a few hundred thousand dollars in compensation.

Tang Liang Hong, another opposition politician and a former solicitor, was also sued for defamation by government politicians in 1997. He was convicted of defamation and ended up bankrupt. He subsequently left Singapore for Australia. In the 1990s, another Worker Party member Gopalan Nair left Singapore and obtained asylum successfully in the USA.

In recent years, Chee Soon Juan and his party members have been jailed for assembling and speaking in public without a police permit. (Police permits are required for public speeches and assemblies of more than 5 person). Chee was jailed in 2010 again for gathering with party members to distribute his party's flyers without a police permit.

Referendums

A referendum may also be held for important national issues, although it has been held only once in Singapore's political history for the 1962 merger referendum. Calls for a national referendum has been made since then, including the issue over the building of casinos in Singapore.

Elections

2011 Presidential election

Main article: Singaporean presidential election, 2011

 Summary of the 27 August 2011 Singaporean presidential election results

Candidate	Symbol & Party		Results
			Votes	Percentage (%)
Tony Tan Keng Yam		Nonpartisan	745,693	35.20
Tan Cheng Bock		Nonpartisan	738,311	34.85
Tan Jee Say		Nonpartisan	530,441	25.04
(loses deposit) Tan Kin Lian		Nonpartisan	104,095	4.91
Valid votes			2,118,540	98.24
Rejected votes			37,849	1.76
Total vote cast			2,156,389	100.00
Electorate / Turnout rate			2,274,773	94.80

2011 General election

Main article: Singaporean general election, 2011

 Summary of the 7 May 2011 Parliament of Singapore election results

Parties and alliances	Leader	Contested seats	Seats won	Popular vote	% of valid votes		+/-	% of valid votes in contested wards		+/-
People's Action Party	Lee Hsien Loong	87	81†	1,212,154	60.14		6.46	60.14		6.46
Workers' Party	Low Thia Khiang	23	6	258,510	12.83		3.51	46.58		8.15
National Solidarity Party	Goh Meng Seng	24	0	242,682	12.04		0.95*	39.25		6.37*
Singapore Democratic Party	Chee Soon Juan	11	0	97,369	4.83		0.76	36.76		13.53
Reform Party	Kenneth Jeyaretnam	11	0	86,294	4.28		New party	31.78		New party
Singapore People's Party	Chiam See Tong	7	0	62,639	3.11		9.88*	41.42		8.90*
Singapore Democratic Alliance	Desmond Lim	7	0	55,988	2.78		10.21	30.06		2.46
Total			87	2,015,636	85.63
Spoilt votes				44,737	2.2
Did not vote (Including walk-overs)				292,913	12.46
Total voting electorate				2,350,873	100.0
†includes uncontested victories *Formerly a constituent party of Singapore Democratic Alliance. Swings reflected are from the SDA's 2006 vote share.

2006 General election

Main article: Singaporean general election, 2006

 Summary of the 6 May 2006 Parliament of Singapore election results

Parties and alliances	Leader	Contested seats	Seats won	Popular vote	%		+/-
People's Action Party	Lee Hsien Loong	84	82†	748,130	66.60		-8.69
Workers' Party	Low Thia Khiang	20	1	183,578	16.34		+13.30
Singapore Democratic Alliance National Solidarity Party Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura Justice Party Singapore People's Party	Chiam See Tong	20	1	145,628	12.96		+0.96
Singapore Democratic Party	Chee Soon Juan	7	0	45,937	4.09		-4.04
Total			84	1,123,273	91.85
Spoilt votes				26,727	2.19
Did not vote				72,884	5.96
Total voting electorate				1,222,884	100.00
†includes uncontested victories

2005 Presidential election

Main article: Singaporean presidential election, 2005

The Singapore presidential election of 2005 was to be held on 27 August 2005 to elect the President of Singapore. Since on August 13, 2005, the Presidential Elections Committee announced that Sellapan Ramanathan was the only candidate that had received the Certificate of Eligibility, he was named the next President without election.

 Summary of the 27 August 2005 Singapore presidential election results

Candidate	Votes
S.R. Nathan	without ballot

:More info: Singapore presidential election, 2005

Past elections

Legislative Council elections

Main article: Legislative Council elections in Singapore

• 1948 General Election
• 1951 General Election

Legislative Assembly elections

Main article: Legislative Assembly elections in Singapore

• 1955 General Election
• 1957 By-Election
• 1959 General Election
• 1961 By-Election (Both April and July)
• 1963 General Election
• 1965 By-Election

Parliamentary elections

Main article: Parliamentary elections in Singapore

• 1966 By-Election (January, March & November)
• 1967 By-Election
• 1968 General Election
• 1970 By-Election
• 1972 General Election
• 1976 General Election
• 1977 By-Election (May & November)
• 1980 General Election
• 1981 By-Election
• 1984 General Election
• 1988 General Election
• 1991 General Election
• 1992 By-Election
• 1997 General Election
• 2001 General Election
• 2006 General Election
• 2011 General Election

Other elections

Municipal Commission elections

• 1949 Ordinary Election

City Council elections

Main article: City Council elections in Singapore

• 1957 Ordinary Election
• 1958 By-Election

National referendums

• 1962 National Referendum

Federal and State elections (Malaysia)

• 1964 General Election

Presidential elections

Main article: Presidential elections in Singapore

• 1993 Presidential Election
• 1999 Presidential Election
• 2005 Presidential Election

See also

• Electoral calendar
• Election
• By-election

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Yeo, Lay Hwee (2002), "Electoral Politics in Singapore", in Croissant, Aurel; Bruns, Gabriele; John, Marei, eds. (PDF), Electoral Politics in Southeast and East Asia, Singapore: Office for Regional Cooperation, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, pp. 203–232, ISBN 9789810460204, archived from the original on 6 March 2007, http://web.archive.org/web/20070306104407/http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/01361007.pdf .

External links

• Singapore Elections Department website
• Singapore Elections
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• National Library of Singapore's Resource Guide on General Elections in Singapore