Singapore's 16th parliamentary general election

Singapore's 16th parliamentary general election was held on 7 May 2011. The Parliament of Singapore's maximum term is five years, within which it must be dissolved by the President of Singapore and elections held within three months, as stated in the Constitution of Singapore. Voting is mandatory in Singapore and is based on the first-past-the-post system. Elections are conducted by the Elections Department, which is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister’s Office. On 19 April 2011, parliament was dissolved. Nomination day was held on 27 April 2011, and for the second election in a row, the PAP was not returned to power on nomination day. This election also marked the first and the only three-cornered fight since 2001 in Punggol East SMC.

The election was described as a "watershed election" in various forms by various parties. The ruling PAP reminded voters that the election will determine "Singapore's next generation of leaders. The Workers' Party called it a "watershed election" both for Singapore and the opposition, as it marked the first time in two decades that the only two incumbent opposition MPs moved out of their respective strongholds and contested in Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), risking a situation where there would be "no elected opposition MPs. This was despite the elections having the highest proportion of contested seats since independence, with 82 of 87 seats contested (or 94.3%). 2011 was the year that saw the highest number of seats contested since post-independence; with the second being in 1972 when 87.7% of seats were contested (or 57 out of 65 seats), It marked the first electoral contests in Bishan-Toa Payoh (since 1991) and Holland-Bukit Timah, and also marked Tanjong Pagar as the only constituency to remain uncontested since its formation in 1991.

The final results saw a 6.46% swing against the PAP from the 2006 elections to 60.14%, it's lowest since independence. While the PAP met most expectations to sweep into power and claim over two-thirds of parliamentary seats, it won 81 out of 87 seats, and lost Aljunied Group Representation Constituency to the Workers' Party of Singapore, the first time a GRC was won by an opposition party. Including the Hougang Single Member Constituency, the Workers' Party ended up with six seats in Parliament, the best opposition parliamentary result since independence. Conversely, the other opposition parties gained no seats despite earning much higher vote share percentages. The strong showing of the Workers' Party led to speculations that the elections may see the eventual emergence of a two-party political system in future elections.

Political parties

Main article: List of political parties in Singapore

The governing People's Action Party (PAP) has been in power since Singapore's independence in 1965, and is currently led by the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Besides the ruling PAP, the other major political parties that may contest the upcoming elections are the Workers' Party of Singapore (WP) led by Low Thia Khiang, the Reform Party (Singapore) led by Kenneth Jeyaretnam, the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) led by Chiam See Tong, which is composed of the Singapore Malay National Organization (PKMS) and the Singapore People's Party (SPP), the National Solidarity Party (NSP) which left the SDA in 2007, and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) led by Chee Soon Juan, who may run in 2011 after his conviction in 2002 expires. The Reform Party is the newest party and was created on 18 June 2008 and was then led by former Member of Parliament J.B. Jeyaretnam. He could have stood for election after he was discharged from bankruptcy and reinstated to the bar, however, Jeyaretnam died of heart failure on 30 September 2008 at the age of 82. His eldest son, Kenneth Jeyaretnam has since taken up leadership of the party and is now its secretary-general.

Televised forum

In the first pre-election forum of this nature in Singapore since the 1988 General Election, Channel NewsAsia invited the main parties to record an hour-long programme. The programme, in English entitled, “A political forum on Singapore’s future” brought together the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and four opposition parties to discuss long and short-term challenges for the country. The forum included

Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, Assistant Treasurer of the Singapore Democratic Party

Mrs Lina Chiam, 2nd Vice Chairwoman of the Singapore People's Party

Mr Gerald Giam, Assistant Webmaster of Workers' Party of Singapore

Mr Mohamed Nazem Suki, Assistant Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Alliance

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Finance Minister, and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Josephine Teo of the PAP

Background

The 2011 General Election was the 16th General Election in Singapore and the 11th since independence. The governing People's Action Party (PAP) sought to secure their 13th consecutive term in office since 1959. This was the second election since Lee Hsien Loong became its Secretary-General.

Parliamentary reform

On 11 March 2010, the Government tabled three bills in the parliament to amend the Constitution, the Presidential Elections Act and the Parliamentary Elections Act. These amendments reduced the number of Group representation constituencies (GRC), increased the number of Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) to a maximum of nine (inclusive of the number of elected opposition members of Parliament), and the number of Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) permanent also to nine. A one-day "cooling-off" day was implemented, during which campaigning was forbidden, with only party political broadcasts allowed. Internet campaigning was also formally legalized as a legitimate means of political campaigning. On 26 April 2010, the amendments to the Constitution were passed by a vote of 74–1 after a three-hour debate on the bill.

Lee Hsien Loong

Lee Hsien Loong (simplified Chinese: 李显龙; traditional Chinese: 李顯龍; pinyin: Lǐ Xiǎnlóng; POJ: Li Hian-liong; born 10 February 1952) is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. Lee Hsien Loong is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the government-owned Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Foreign relations

Singapore has generally had a favourable relationship with the United States. The growth of bilateral trade improved commercial and diplomatic ties between the two countries after the implementation of the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and the growth in bilateral trade has been evident since the Free Trade Agreement became effective on 1 January 2004.

Lee made his inaugural visit to the United States, as Prime Minister of Singapore, between 6 July and 16 July 2005. Several other ministers, notably the defence minister Teo Chee Hean and foreign minister George Yeo, accompanied Lee.

On 12 July 2005, President George W. Bush and Lee signed the "Strategic Framework Agreement between the United States of America and the Republic of Singapore for a Closer Cooperation Partnership in Defence and Security". The agreement was a natural step in the expansion of bilateral ties. President Bush and the then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong had first announced their intention to conclude this agreement in October 2003.

The intention of the agreement is to address common threats such as terrorism and the proliferation of Weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which called for even closer cooperation between the United States and Singapore.

Early political career

Lee entered politics at the age of 32 in 1984. He was appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Defence in December 1984 by his father, Lee Kuan Yew, and was subsequently promoted to Acting Minister for Trade and Industry in 1986, and the Second Minister for Defence.

Deputy Prime Minister

When Goh Chok Tong became the Prime Minister of Singapore on 28 November 1990, Lee became the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore. He focused on economic and civil service matters and concurrently served as Minister for Trade and Industry until 1992.

Lee was appointed Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 1998, and Minister for Finance in 2001. During Lee's thirteen and a half years as Deputy Prime Minister, he exerted significant influence on Singapore's governance, especially in economic and social affairs.

To ease the growing budget deficit due to falling tax revenues from cuts in corporate and personal income taxes and other factors such as the Iraq War and Sars outbreak, Lee proposed on 29 August 2003 to raise the GST from three percent to five percent, a change that took place in January 2004.

Lee also initiated several relaxations of the requirements for Singapore citizenship, especially for foreign husbands of Singaporean women and foreign-born children of Singaporeans. The changes were made after repeated pleas from MPs and the Remaking Singapore Committee.

Defamation judgment

On 24 September 2008, High Court, in a summary judgment by Justice Woo Bih Li, ruled that the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) magazine-Hugo Restall, editor, defamed Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The court found the 2006 article "Singapore's 'Martyr': Chee Soon Juan" meant that Lee Kuan Yew "has been running and continues to run Singapore in the same corrupt manner as Durai operated NKF and he has been using libel actions to suppress those who would question to avoid exposure of his corruption." FEER has 30 days to appeal. The court sentenced FEER publisher and editor, owned by Dow Jones & Company (in turn owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp), to pay damages to complainants.

Defamation lawsuit

In 2010, Lee Hsien Loong, together with the two former prime minister preceded him, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, threatened legal action against The New York Times Company which owns The International Herald Tribune regarding an Op-Ed piece titled ‘All in the Family’ of 15 February 2010 by Philip Bowring, a freelance columnist and former editor of The Far Eastern Economic Review. The Herald Tribute apologized in March that readers of the article may ‘infer that the younger Lee did not achieve his position through merit’. The Times and Bowring also agreed to pay SG$60,000 to Lee, SG$50,000 to Lee Kuan Yew and SG$50,000 to Goh (total amounted to about US$114,000 at the time), in addition to legal costs. The case stemmed from a 1994 settlement between the three Singaporean leaders and the paper about an article also by Bowring that referred to ‘dynastic politics’ in East Asian countries including Singapore. In that settlement, Bowring agreed not to say or imply that the younger Lee had attained his position through nepotism by his father Lee Kuan Yew. In response, media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders wrote an open letter to urge Lee and other top officials of the Singapore government to stop taking ‘libel actions’ against journalists.

Salary

Lee Hsien Loong currently earns an annual salary of S$3,870,000 (US$2,856,930), an increase of 25% from S$3,091,200 (US$2,037,168), making him the highest paid head of government in the world. In comparison, the President of the United States earns a salary of US$400,000. The new salary took effect in January 2008.

Low Thia Khiang

Low Thia Khiang (Traditional Chinese: 劉程強, Simplified Chinese: 刘程强, Pinyin: Liú Chéngqiáng; born 1956) is a politician and businessman from Singapore. He is currently the leader of the opposition Workers' Party, and since 1991 has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Hougang until 2011 where he successful contested Aljunied GRC.

Low is currently one of only two elected opposition MPs in Singapore's Parliament (the other being Chiam See Tong of the Singapore People's Party).

Political career

Low joined the Workers' Party in 1982, and was subsequently appointed its Organising Secretary. At the 1984 general election, he was the election agent for the party's then Secretary-General, J.B. Jeyaretnam, in his successful campaign to win the parliamentary constituency of Anson.

In 1988, Low represented the Workers' Party in a televised debate with the PAP government on proposals to create an elected Presidency for Singapore, where he engaged Ong Teng Cheong and Lee Hsien Loong (who would later become the President and Prime Minister of Singapore respectively). In the general election later that year, Low, together with Gopalan Nair and Lim Lye Soon, contested the Group Representation Constituency of Tiong Bahru and finished second with 42.2% of the vote.

In 1991, Low, as the Workers' Party's Assistant Secretary-General, won the Hougang constituency and entered Parliament.

In 1992, Low was appointed by Singapore's then Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, to be a member of the Cost Review Committee. After a year of intensive study, Low decided to produce his own independent report as he had a different perspective from the other members of the committee.

Current posts

Secretary-General, Workers' Party of Singapore

Chairman, Hougang Constituency Committee (HGCC)

Chairman, Hougang Town Council (HGTC)

Background

Low was educated at Lik Teck Primary School and Chung Cheng High School (Main), before going on to study at Nanyang University where he majored in Chinese Language & Literature, and Government & Public Administration. In 1981, he completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Chinese Studies at the National University of Singapore. In 1982, he completed a Diploma in Education. He worked as a teacher for a few years, before starting his own business.

Goh Meng Seng

Goh Meng Seng (Chinese: 吴明盛) is a Singaporean politician who is currently the Secretary General of the National Solidarity Party (NSP) in Singapore.

Political career

Goh contested in the Singaporean general election, 2006 with the Workers' Party of Singapore (Workers' Party) in the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (Aljunied GRC) as one of 5 team members. The team garnered a credible 43.9% of the district votes, finished as one of the top 3 non-ruling party district performers and was eligible for a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) position which was taken up by team-leader Sylvia Lim.

Goh left Workers' Party in 2006 after the election due to "some Internet postings which had tarnished the WP's reputation" despite being a member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) and a member of the "A team" of the Workers' Party.

Goh later joined the National Solidarity Party. He is currently the Secretary General of the NSP.

It was made known to public that Goh would be contesting in the Singaporean general election, 2011 in the 5-man Tampines Group Representation Constituency (Tampines GRC) as a member of the NSP