Analysis | Singapore election: hard truths for the PAP as voters deny ruling party an easy ride into power

The People’s Action Party has formed a government but its 8 percentage point drop in vote share is unsettling amid plans for a leadership transition

The results point to the type of political contestation that Singaporeans seem to aspire to, and that hardball tactics of the past might need re-examining

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Leader of PAP and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a post-election press conference on July 11, 2020. Photo: Handout

Published: 5:06pm, 11 Jul 2020Updated: 7:53pm, 14 Jul 2020

Singapore ’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong went into Friday’s general election saying a nation deep in “the crisis of a generation” needed the leadership of a strong People’s Action Party (PAP).

In the early hours of Saturday, his government was presented with a different set of hard truths. Voters demanding a check on PAP power boosted the opposition’s small presence in parliament and raised questions about the government’s carefully orchestrated leadership succession plans.

As expected, the PAP was returned to power with a comfortable supermajority in the legislature, extending its run as the world’s longest continuously ruling elected government. This was its 15th straight election victory since the city state became self-governing in 1959.

But the eight percentage point drop in its vote share to 61.24 per cent was the third-worst showing since the country gained independence in 1965. Furthermore, the party spectacularly lost a second group representation constituency (GRC) – the multi-seat ward of Sengkang – where a young untested Workers’ Party team ousted three office-holders, one of them being the chief of the country’s labour movement.

Ng Chee Meng, centre, of the People's Action Party was one of the former office holders to lose his seat in the election. Photo: Reuters

The PAP had been widely expected to do better in the midst of a pandemic that has seen the administration dole out a S$93 billion (US$66.88 billion) budget package. The prime minister had called for a “strong mandate” to save jobs and businesses.

In a 4am press conference after the results were announced, Lee put on a brave front, acknowledging that while the PAP had secured a “clear” mandate, “the percentage of the popular vote is not as high as I had hoped for, and we lost one GRC”.