SINGAPORE: After speeches in Parliament last week from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his presumptive successor, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, there has been speculation that the next General Election will be called sooner rather than later, perhaps even as early as this year, despite the fact that it’s only been three years since the last GE, and it’s not due for another two.
“Against a backdrop of global troubles and internal issues, a decisive win in a snap vote would give Wong an ideal start as the nation’s fourth premier, observers say,” reads an Apr 23 piece in South China Morning Post entitled Is Singapore heading to the polls this year, as ‘electoral drums start beating’?
In GE 2020, the ruling People’s Action Party retained the vast majority of seats in Parliament, winning 83 of the 93 seats. In any other country across the globe, this result would have been nothing less than stellar. However, the election saw the opposition Workers’ Party winning a second constituency, the then newly-formed Sengkang GRC, sending a record 10 WP MPs to the House. The party’s secretary-general, Mr Pritam Singh, was also formally designated by PM Lee as Singapore’s first Leader of the Opposition.
Moreover, GE2020 saw the entrance of two other opposition MPs into Parliament, the nascent Progress Singapore Party’s Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa, Non-Constituency Members of the 14th Parliament. The PSP slate only narrowly lost at West Coast GRC against a PAP team that included two high-profile government figures, S Iswaran and Desmond Lee.
But this year may just be the right time for Singaporeans to troop to the polls, due, in large part to the need for stability amid geopolitical tensions, based on speeches from the Prime Minister and his deputy and heir.
PM Lee talked about tensions between the two world superpowers, the United States and China, as well as the ongoing war in Ukraine, highlighting the need for leadership in Singapore.
“I ask you to give Lawrence and the 4G ministers your fullest support. I ask you to give them your full support for now as members of my team, but in due course when they take over the reins as the next leadership for Singapore,” he said on Apr 19 (Wed).
“Help me make this leadership renewal a success for Singapore and for you. Show your support for a government that works hard and works well for you.”
As for Mr Wong, he said last week that he does not assume that the ruling party will cinch the next GE, or that his succession is guaranteed.
He was also noticeably pointed toward the opposition in a speech, challenging them to come up with a serious alternative agenda and not merely resort to populism that tears at trust in government.
SCMP quoted SMU professor Eugene Tan as saying that the rhetoric from the two leaders is a sign that “the electoral drums have started beating,” adding that PM Lee “is concerned that should one or more key office-holders not get elected, then the renewal process could be jeopardised.” /TISG