SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has been handed a clear and strong mandate in his maiden election as head of government, with the People’s Action Party (PAP) clinching a landslide 65.57% of the national vote.
This is its best election result since the 2015 general election, which was called in the SG50 year. With this election, which took place during SG60, the PAP improved on its 2020 performance by over four percentage points.
The party clinched 87 seats in the 97-seat parliament, preserving the super-majority it has enjoyed in the House since independence.
The result has been a shock to the opposition, with opposition supporters lamenting that they have “lost hope” across social media. Reform party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam’s infamous “I don’t want to hear any more complaints” quote is also recirculating online and through messaging platforms.
This time, analysts expected more seats to go to the opposition, with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) expected to win at Sembawang West Single Member Constituency (SMC) and Bukit Panjang SMC, the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) to win Jurong West-West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC), and the Workers’ Party (WP) expected to win at least one more GRC and SMC.
The WP came close but lost Punggol GRC and Jalan Kayu SMC to the PAP with 44.83% and 48.53% of the vote, respectively.
WP candidate for Jalan Kayu, Andre Low, and SDP chief Chee Soon Juan, who earned 46.81% of the vote at Sembawang West SMC, are expected to be appointed to two Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seats.
SDP chairman Paul Tambyah, who contested Bukit Panjang SMC, said it has been a bad day for him and the PSP. In one of the most closely watched fights, Prof Tambyah only received 38% of the vote compared to his opponent, the PAP’s Liang Eng Hwa’s 62%.
Prof Tambyah had received over 46% of the vote in 2020 when he faced off with Mr Liang.
PSP, meanwhile, narrowly lost to the PAP, with 48.31% of the vote in the West Coast in the 2020 general election. The boundaries for the West Coast were redrawn ahead of this year’s polls, and the PSP only managed to clinch 39.99% of the vote, marking a disappointing end to party chair Tan Cheng Bock’s career in electoral politics.
Dr Chee told the press his “jaw dropped” when he saw the results. He said, “It’s been a very disappointing set of results across the board, as far as SDP is concerned. My jaw just dropped when I saw the Bukit Panjang results, as well as our constituencies in Sembawang and Marsiling Yew-Tee and Sembawang West.”
He added that his party has a lot of analysis to do in the coming days.
Expressing disappointment at the outcome, Dr Chee said, “Obviously, it’s really upsetting. Across the board, with what happened in Bukit Panjang and our constituencies and the rest of the opposition as well, it’s quite a surprise.”