On May 3, Singapore will hold its first democratic evaluation under its new prime minister, Lawrence Wong.
The election campaign, which lasts only nine times, is anticipated to be the one most influenced by the rising cost of living, housing demands, work, and a growing demand for healthcare in an ageing population.
Voters are likely to elect the People’s Action Party ( PAP ) to the presidency. Since the British granted Singapore self-rule in 1959, the PAP has won every vote.
The Workers ‘ Party won 10 seats in the country’s final election in 2020, marking the opposition’s biggest defeat since Singapore gained independence in 1965.
This time, 87 votes are up for grabs.
Even though the PAP won 83 of the 93 votes in 2020, it will undoubtedly be looking for a stronger result this season, with the last election viewed as a loss for the party.
44 % of the 1, 845 Singaporeans surveyed in March have chosen who to vote for, according to a Reuters record citing data from poll YouGov. 63 % of those voters say they would support the ruling party, and 15 % would support the main opposition Workers ‘ Party.
The vote is being viewed as the first real test for Lawrence Wong, who took office last year and succeeds long-standing town council chief Lee Hsien Loong, who had been in charge for 20 years.
In what some economists refer to as a “feel good” resources, Wong presented his second funds as the nation’s president in February, unveiling a number of tax rebates, freebies, and sector-specific steps to cushion against cost-of-living pressures.
Only four prime ministers have been in power in Singapore, all of whom are members of the People’s Action Party ( PAP )- the only one since independence in 1965.
The first was Lee Kuan Yew, Mr. Lee’s parents, who dominated Singapore for 25 years and is widely regarded as the father of modern Singapore.
The PAP has dominated Singapore’s social environment, despite a string of scandals that occurred in the country in 2020, including a mature minister’s imprisonment in a corruption investigation and the departure of two legislators over an extramarital affair.
Voting is required for Singapore’s 2.75 million qualified people.
Singapore resembles the first-past-the-post election system in the UK, but there are significant differences that make it more difficult for opposition parties.
MPs vote for constituencies that are small and larger, and the larger ones are not represented by an individual MP but by a group of up to five GRCs, or Group Representative Constituencies ( GRCs ).
In order to “risk” running one or two majority candidates in Singapore, the system was introduced in 1988 as a means of ensuring greater representation of minority parties in the city’s predominately Chinese population.
However, opposition parties haven’t had the resources to find enough qualified and knowledgeable individuals to actually battle these larger districts until a few years ago.
Candidates must also submit S$ 13, 500 ($ 9, 700: £7, 700 ) in order to enter, and they must also receive more than one-eighth of the total votes in order to win.
Opposition parties claim that this is done in secret and amounts to redistricting, everything the government has always denied. This is also true of the changing political divisions in constituencies.