Elections in Singapore

There are currently two types of elections in Singapore: parliamentary and presidential elections.

According to the constitution of Singapore general elections must be conducted within 5 years of the first sitting of parliament. Presidential elections are conducted every 6 years.

The parliament of Singapore is unicameral with 87 seats. Since the legislative assembly election in 1959, the government of Singapore has always been formed by the People's Action Party with an overwhelming majority, and in several elections the only party elected.

Parliamentary elections
From Singapore's independence in 1965 to 1981, the People's Action Party won every single seat in every election held, forming a parliament with no elected opposition MP for almost two decades.

In 1984, opposition politicians secured an elected seat in parliament for the first time in a general election. 2 seats out of 74 seats went to opposition politicians. In 1988, the opposition won 1 seat out of 77 seats. In 1991, the opposition won 4 seats out of 81 seats. In 1997, 2001 and 2006, the opposition secured 2 seats for each respective election.

Throughout the history of the Republic of Singapore, only 12 different opposition politicians have ever been elected into parliament. They are as listed in the following tables:

Past Elected Opposition Parliamentarians

Current Elected Opposition Parliamentarians

The campaigning time for elections in Singapore is very short. The legal minimum campaign time, from when the election is announced to polling day, is nine days. This minimum campaigning time is generally used in Singaporean elections. The announcement of the election follows the announcement of new constituency boundaries.

Walkover rates for parliamentary elections are extremely high when compared to international norms. Since 1991, walkover rates have hovered around 50% for each election. This means that around 50% of the seats of each election are uncontested and the People's Action Party wins them by default without constituents having to cast a single vote. Even before the votes are counted, the PAP has more or less won the election due to extremely high walkover rates.

The electoral system reduces the chances of opposition representation in parliament with a "winner takes all" system for Group Representation Constituencies. However, Freedom House has noted that elections in Singapore are technically free of electoral fraud.

Presidential elections
Presidential elections have been held since 1993. Under the "Presidential Elections Act", to run for president, one must obtain a "certificate of eligibility" from the Presidential Elections Committee. To obtain this certificate, one must be:

1. a person of integrity, good character and reputation; and

2. has held for at least 3 years a cabinet ministerial post, headed a statutory board, or been a CEO of a company incorporated in Singapore worth over $100 million in paid-up capital, or has equivalent management experience.

Because of the high requirements needed to run for presidential elections, many presidential elections have been uncontested. All presidential elections have been walkovers except for the first one, held in 1993 which was contested by two people, and the 2011 one, contested by four people. The first presidential election was won by Ong Teng Cheong, a former member of the PAP. Subsequent presidential elections in 1999 and 2005 have been won by S. R. Nathan through walkovers.

The 2011 presidential election was contested by Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Tan Jee Say and Tan Kin Lian. All candidates except Tan Jee Say were former members of the PAP. The election was won by Tony Tan with a margin of 0.34% over Tan Cheng Bock.

Possible reasons for high walkover rates
Two principal reasons have been suggested for the large number of uncontested elections in Singapore.

Populace is contented with the government
The first possibility is that the Singapore populace is fully contented with the government and does not see the need for a shadow cabinet or working opposition team in parliament.

This is due to the effectiveness of the Singapore government in providing a high standard of living and low unemployment rate in Singapore, as well as the lack of corruption (Singapore is ranked among the "least corrupt" by the Corruption Perceptions Index). However, this does not explain why other comparable countries have significant opposition parties.

Opposition views
The second possibility is that the Singapore populace is enveloped in a climate of fear, hence they do not dare to run for elections. Dr Catherine Lim has spoken about this "climate of fear" many times. She argues that a climate of fear hurts Singapore.

In Singapore, opposition politicians and trade unionists were detained in prison without trial before in the 1960s and early 1970s. Many such as Lim Chin Siong, Said Zahari and Lim Hock Siew were accused by the government of being involved in subversive communist struggles. Among them, Chia Thye Poh was detained the longest; he was detained for 23 years without any trial.

In 1988, Francis Seow, former solicitor general of Singapore and opposition politician, was also detained without trial. He was later charged with tax evasion but he fled overseas and sought asylum successfully in the USA. He was convicted of tax evasion in absentia.

Prominent opposition politicians such as Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam and Chee Soon Juan have also been sued for defamation by government politicians under Singapore's strict libel laws. They were both bankrupted and made to pay a few hundred thousand dollars in compensation.

Tang Liang Hong, another opposition politician and a former solicitor, was also sued for defamation by government politicians in 1997. He was convicted of defamation and ended up bankrupt. He subsequently left Singapore for Australia. In the 1990s, another Worker Party member Gopalan Nair left Singapore and obtained asylum successfully in the USA.

In recent years, Chee Soon Juan and his party members have been jailed for assembling and speaking in public without a police permit. Police permits are required for public speeches and assemblies of even a single person. Chee was jailed in 2010 again for gathering with party members to distribute his party's flyers without a police permit.

Referendums
A referendum may also be held for important national issues, although it has been held only once in Singapore's political history for the 1962 merger referendum. Calls for a national referendum has been made since then, including the issue over the building of casinos in Singapore.

2005 presidential election
The Singapore presidential election of 2005 was to be held on 27 August 2005 to elect the president of Singapore. Since on August 13, 2005, the Presidential Elections Committee announced that Sellapan Ramanathan was the only candidate that had received the certificate of eligibility, he was named the next president without election.

More info: Singapore presidential election, 2005.

Legislative Council elections

 * 1948 general election
 * 1951 general election

Legislative Assembly elections

 * 1955 general election
 * 1957 by-election
 * 1959 general election
 * 1961 by-election (both April and July)
 * 1963 general election
 * 1965 by-election

Parliamentary elections

 * 1966 by-election (January, March & November)
 * 1967 by-election
 * 1968 general election
 * 1970 by-election
 * 1972 general election
 * 1976 general election
 * 1977 by-election (May & November)
 * 1979 by-election
 * 1980 general election
 * 1981 by-election
 * 1984 general election
 * 1988 general election
 * 1991 general election
 * 1992 by-election
 * 1997 general election
 * 2001 general election
 * 2006 general election
 * 2011 general election
 * 2012 by-election
 * 2013 by-election

Municipal Commission elections

 * 1949 ordinary election

City Council elections

 * 1957 ordinary election
 * 1958 by-election

National referendums

 * 1962 national referendum

Federal and State elections (Malaysia)

 * 1964 general election

Presidential elections

 * 1993 presidential election
 * 1999 presidential election
 * 2005 presidential election

Party election

 * Singapore PAP Prime Ministerial Election, 1959